But the end result of this would inevitably be higher prices. As it stands now, you can sneak in that last second bid - as I just did BTW, and "win" an auction for less than your maximum bid. If the auction didn't have an end time, other bidders would have time to bid again and outbid me. And come-on, the palpitations and sweaty palms are half of the fun! I like it just the way it is. If I lose, it's because I was trying to sneak a deal, or just didn't want it bad enough, and that's fine with me.
John Wood Red Lodge, MT
On Sat, Feb 23, 2008 at 8:13 PM, David Bean <beandk@rcn.com> wrote:
> When I started buying and selling on Ebay around 2000 I quickly realized
> that the only way I could actually buy anything was by automatic sniping.
> The reason is that Ebay has a bastard model: a "conventional" auction with
> a
> fixed ending time. I suggested to them long ago that they keep the
> bidding
> open until it stops - like a regular auction. With the fixed ending time,
> you have the equivalent of a sealed-bid auction. A sniping service lets
> you
> submit your sealed bid at the moment (almost) that the bids are opened.
> As
> another poster pointed out, you [effectively] make your bid and forget
> about
> it. No more palpitations or sweaty palms or emotional and reckless
> disregard of the limit you set yourself - you just look at your email the
> next morning.
>
> David Bean
> Arlington, MA
> beandk at are-see-enn dot com