I pretty consistently use a sniping service for all the reasons others have mentioned. But one that they've missed I find perhaps the most useful of all: by bidding only through the service (and not directly on eBay), I can effectively bid my maximum right away (so I don't inadvertently forget later) without committing to buy the item. Then if I later find a better alternative or simply change my mind, I cancel the snipe. If, OTOH, I placed the bid directly on eBay, I can't "just cancel" because of my change of heart and may end up forced to buy it.
Also,sniping effectively changes the auction into a "sealed bid" auction, a perfectly reasonable way to bid.
And I can't tell you have many Campy Rally RDs I've missed in the 6 months because they exceeded my snipe price (usually way) before the auction ended. But at least I didn't get sucked into paying more the I really was willing to.
...Derek Davis Phoenix, AZ
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ken Bensinger [mailto:kenbensinger@gmail.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2006 11:01 AM
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: [CR]RE: sniping
>
> Being sniped can be frustrating, no doubt, but as someone who has
sniped,
> been sniped and also bid things up the slow and early way, it's hard
for
> me
> to agree with the virulent anger that sniping brings out among many.
>
> Sniping isn't prohibited by eBay and is in fact common. As long as
it's
> allowed, he who gets beat by a snipe has nobody to blame but himself.
It's
> not sneaky or underhanded -- shill bidding is sneaky and undehanded.
But
> refusing to use all the tools given you as a matter of some Zen
principle
> that a huge percentage of eBayers don't apparently care about verges
on
> the
> self-destructive.
>
> It strikes me that a reasonable bidding philosophy is to bid the
minimum
> on
> an item if there are no bids on it, because that's the lowest possible
> pric
> e
> it can go for. But once a bid is on it, there's no sense in bidding
until
> the tail end, as you are just driving the price up needlessly. The
only
> other time to bid is at the end. That's when everyone else is likely
to
> bid
> .
> Of course, if you can't or won't be by the computer at the end,
sniping
> programs help you be there virtually. And if you're going to use a
sniping
> program, why would you set it to snipe hours ahead of time?
>
> Fine, one may argue, but perhaps the best thing is to just put your
> highest
> possible price in at the outset and hope for the best? If we were
truly
> rational beings, that might work fine, but since we are not (how many
> times
> have you found yourself bidding above your "limit" in the excitement
of
> the
> end of an auction), putting your top bid in well in advance is, in a
> sense,
> an invitation for someone else to get caught up in the excitement and
bid
> up, or even exceed, your highmark.
>
> By bidding late, and incrementally, you essentially protect your high
> water
> mark, shielding it from the emotional runs that other bidders are
likely
> to
> go through.
>
> And it's a strategy that's not just applied on eBay. Look at Wall
Street.
> Firms make last minute M&A bids all the time. Rarely do they just come
in
> with some huge offer on the first day and find that one standing when
the
> dust has settled. Just like you bidding on a vintage crankset, the
> information an M&A specialist has is probably not markedly superior to
> that
> of any other interested parties, and thus your guesses on value (e.g.
> pricing) are assumed to be as educated as anyone else's.
>
> So by hiding your hole card, in essence, you are protecting it from
> (a)unpredictable pyschological phenomena and (b)the risk that someone
else
> has better information than you. You are also taking advantage of the
fact
> that your rivals may in fact be asleep at the wheel, and forget to bid
(it
> happens to all of us) or don't have as good information as you,
opening
> the
> door, late, of opportunity.
>
> I know I sound like Gordon Gekko here (and believe me, I hate the
Gekko
> way
> )
> but the point is that if you're going to willingly participate in a
> system,
> you should act in a self-interested manner. Because that's what
everyone
> else is doing. That's why critiques of athletes or entertainers making
too
> much money don't hold water -- who in their right mind wouldn't ask
for
> the
> most money they could get from their boss? If someone offered you $250
> million to play baseball, wouldn't you take it?
>
> If you don't like the system (a valid point of view), then work to
change
> its rules.
>
> My two cents.
>
> Ken Bensinger,
> Brooklyn, NY