I'll risk making myself look naive. Can't a bidder just defeat a snipe
by bidding a ridiculously high amount in the last 30 or so seconds,
counting on the fact that all of the snipers' bids couldn't possibly be
THAT ridiculously high? I mean assuming that the item in question
would obviously be extremely desirable, and the non-snipe-advantaged
would already be prepared to pay a ridiculously high amount for it
considering that it is an auction. Or does sniping software do an end
run around this counter-measure? As far as I know, sniping isn't just a
convenience for people who are at work. Also, why wouldn't eBay extend an
auction by a minute or two after every bid, it seems that it would generate
more interest in the whole game (which is what it really is most of the time
anyway), making sniping irrelevant in the process. Think cash ripping contests
fools sometimes engage in. And, if a timed auction is such a miracle of the
modern age, why don't auction houses just fire all of their auctioneers, and do
it like eBay? I will very gratefully take any responses off-list if you so choose.
Erik Olsson
Rochester, NY