Why would the seller care about sniping? The seller
just wants to get rid of a product. If they want it to
go for a specific amount then they can put a reserve
on it -simple. I love ebay, where else do we have
access to so many different things of interest
especially vintage bike stuff? And it's from around
the world! I just found NOS 27" rims for my friend's
Carlton -Ebay is my friend.
Cheers,
Derek Willburn
Long Beach, CA USA
> Garth, and List,
>
> Sorry I'm late to the dance. Thanks to Dale for
> bending the rules to
> allow the off-topic discussion of eBay sniping. You
> have all provided
> the perspective I've been looking for, and much food
> for thought.
>
> If it's not too late, I have some (hopefully)
> different thoughts to add.
>
> As others have noted, an eBay auction is neither
> fish nor fowl. It has
> open bidding like an auction, but a fixed deadline
> like a sealed bid.
> This pits the buyer's reasonable desire to get a
> really good deal
> against his equally reasonable desire to get the
> item even if it means
> paying a little more. Contrary to what some have
> said, I think this
> approach tends to depress prices. It definitely
> produces frustration
> for those who would have been willing to bid higher
> had they not run out
> of time. While it is true the bidder can turn in
> his best offer early
> on and let the chips fall where they may, this runs
> counter to the
> instinct to feign lack of interest and bid low in
> hopes of getting a
> good deal, and counter to the instinct to act as if
> this was really an
> auction in the traditional sense.
>
> What eBay is doing just doesn't seem to make sense.
> Why would they want
> to depress prices? Why would they want to reduce
> the
> sporting/entertainment aspect of an auction? For
> this is surely where
> the whole business must end, with everyone
> pretending to ignore the
> offering during the listing period, and then let
> their sniping software
> slug it out in the last nanosecond. Where's the fun
> in that?
> Incidentally, this just turns the auction into a
> sealed bid, with the
> advantage for the buyer that he doesn't necessarily
> have to pay his full
> bid price.
>
> The only angle I can figure is that eBay must be
> thinking the buyer's
> need to walk away with a bargain is the key factor
> driving the eBay
> economy. If the buyer feels he is wasting his time
> in a game that
> inevitably ends in being clobbered by people with
> deeper pockets, maybe
> he would lose interest. But if bargains are the
> lifeblood of eBay, then
> the system depends on the willingness of sellers to
> continue knocking
> themselves out to find, clean up, photo, list, pack
> and ship rare items
> at cut-rate prices, prices that would not be
> profitable if you had to
> pay someone to do all the legwork. Hence they urge
> sellers to stick
> with the auction format and start out low, which we
> do in hopes the
> prices will come right at the end, which they don't
> because of sniping.
>
> I wonder if it would be feasible to put up an
> auction stating very
> clearly that the auction would be ended by the
> seller, as allowed under
> eBay rules, about 24 hours prior to the deadline.
> The seller would act
> as his own auctioneer, and after a reasonable time
> (as determined by
> seller) if no one countered the high bidder, the
> auction would be ended
> and the item awarded. Would this be a viable
> alternative for sellers
> who just don't like sniping? I can already
> anticipate one problem: If
> the seller didn't like the numbers he might be
> tempted to hold the
> auction open. He would then have to contend with
> the wrath of the
> unsuccessful bidders.
>
> John Hurley
> Austin, Texas USA
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bianca Pratorius [mailto:biankita@comcast.net]
>
> Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 4:48 PM
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: [CR]Ebay ethics, last minute bidding,
> sniping etc....
>
> After losing three auctions in a row, being outbid
> in the last five
> seconds each time, I've had it. I joined the crowd
> but I must say, I
> really don't like it. Ebay has changed so much over
> the last two years.
> About that time, I noticed that people would bid up
> the item mostly
> during the last hour. The next year it seemed that
> items were getting
> bid up during the last fifteen minutes. This year
> it's gotten worse -
> much worse. Even newbies to ebay are using special
> software which
> enables them to get an advantage over guys that
> played by the rules
> (like me). Today I became an card carrying sniper.
> My bids will be
> placed electronically and it will be my guy's
> computer software against
> theirs. So what's changed? Nothing, we just upped
> the ante like
> countries building up nuclear arsenals to combat the
> other guy's
> arsenals. And by the way this business about late
> winter being the
> season where people buy items to get ready for
> spring therefore the
> prices rise. They do, but my experience is that they
> don't go down
> again. They just rise. Bah! $800 for a cracked
> (possibly irreparably)
> seat lugged Masi 3V with Dura Ace? Thank goodness
> there are list
> members like Charles Nighbor who are still willing
> to give a guy a good
> deal on an old bike. Thanks to him but I'm ready to
> give up on ebay ...
> until I need something badly ... again.
>
> Garth Libre in Miami Fl USA
>
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>
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