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Hack 21 Snipe It Manually
Bid at the last minute to simultaneously ensure
that you win the auction and that you pay the lowest possible
amount.
It
shouldn't take
long to figure out that it's usually better to bid
later in the auctionthe later the better. Many eBayers wait
until the last few minutes of the auction to bid, leaving no time for
lower bidders to be notified and respond with higher bids. This is
called sniping,
and all it takes is a little nerve and the ability to tell time.
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When you've found an auction you want to snipe, the
first step is to track the auction and make note of its closing date
and time; see [Hack #24] for details.
Then, all you need to do is return to eBay a few minutes before the
auction ends and place your bid.
The problem is that many eBay users make a habit of doing this, so
you'll likely have competition. With multiple
snipers, the prize often goes to the bidder who can enter a bid
closest to the end of the auction.
3.3.1 With Seconds to Spare . . .
The most effective snipes occur
within 10 seconds of the end of the auction, leaving no time for
other bidders to even see your bid not to mention outbid you
before it's too late.
Give yourself about two minutes to set up. Start by opening two
browser windows (press Ctrl-N to open a second window), and open the
auction page in both windows. Move and resize the two browser windows
so they're side by side on your screen.
Type your maximum bid in one of the windows and click Place Bid (but
do not confirm your bid on the next page). If necessary, scroll the
page so that the Confirm Bid button is visible and not obscured.
Then, switch to the other window and reload (refresh) the page by
pressing Ctrl-R. Reload it again a few seconds later to see any
changes to the current price and the time left. Repeat this until
there's only 10-15 seconds left in the auction.
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When the time is right, switch back to the other window and press the
Confirm Bid button to place your bid. Then, quickly reload the
auction page to make sure your bid was accepted. Assuming you entered
a sufficiently large bid, you should be the high bidder for the seven
seconds that remain. If you cut it close enough, nobody else will
even know you've bid until the auction is over.
Ethical Concerns
Some eBay members consider the ethics of
sniping to be somewhat dubious in that it
may appear unfair to those unfamiliar with the process. This concern
is somewhat understandable. It's true that new
members will lose auctions to seasoned eBayers at first, either in
bidding wars or by sniping, but as they become more experienced,
they'll start winning more auctions.
The choice of whether or not to snipe is yours, but in all my years
of using eBay, I've never had a single buyer (or
seller) contact me and complain about an auction
I've sniped. Inexperienced bidders will eventually
learn the system and find a method that works for them (sniping or
otherwise).
3.3.2 Contingency Plans
Of course, things don't always work out the way we
plan. The very nature of sniping leaves little time to correct errors
or deal with obstacles, so it's best to prepare for
them ahead of time.
For instance, say you want to snipe an item for $25; this bid amount
poses no problem two minutes before the end of the option, as the
current price is only $17. But if, 20 seconds before the end, the
bidding reaches $25, your $25 bid will be refused. Sure, you could
anticipate this by bidding $26 instead, but then the same thing could
happen. (What really drives me nuts is when I bid $25 and the current
price is $24.72; even though my bid is higher, eBay refuses it
because it is below the required bid increment. See [Hack #25] for further information.)
The best way to combat this especially if you really want an
item is to open up at least one extra bidding window when
sniping. The procedure is the same as ordinary sniping, except on one
side you'll have the auction page, and on the other
you'll have two (or more)
"Confirm your Bid"
windows, cascaded so that each is big enough to be functional but
small enough that each Confirm Bid button is visible. In the
first bidding window, you might type a bid of $25, but have the
second window ready to type in a slightly higher bid if necessary.
When it comes down to the wire, you'd click the
Confirm Bid on the $25 window as you normally would. If you see the
large blue letters confirming that the bid has been accepted, then
there's nothing left to do. But if, instead, you see
the light-brown letters informing you that your bid is too low or
that you've been outbid, you'll be
poised and ready to enter a second, slightly higher bid in the extra
window.
I know what you're thinking: why not simply enter an
inordinately large bid when sniping to completely eliminate the
chance of being outbid?
One of the most important but least evident advantages of sniping is
that it bypasses the
bidding wars that are so common on
eBay. Bidding wars typically accomplish nothing more than
unnecessarily raising the price of an auction, at which point
everyone is bidding more than the item is worth. By bidding at the
last minute, you not only eliminate any time for others to outbid
you, but you cripple your own ability to bid more than you would
normally be willing to pay for the item.
3.3.3 See Also
See [Hack #24] for ways to mark
auctions for later sniping.
See [Hack #22] if
you're not going to be around when the auction ends
and you don't want to bid early.
When used in conjunction with [Hack #25], you can cut the price by a few
pennies to a few dollars per auction.
