Got sniped on eBay, show me how not to!

I'd only use a sniping program if the auction ends at say 4 am in the morning and you really really wanted the item. Otherwise, I would rather wait til the last minute and do it myself. As others have said, just have a set price in mind on how much you're willing to pay and use that at the end.

Originally Posted by alliswell

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You dodged a bullet. That suit collar makes me think of Eeyore. You're not going to get an Oxxford that looks good for anything like $200.

I got an Oxxford for $40 that looks great. I agree that OP's does not though.

free sniping program: gixen.com

there have been many threads on this topic, try searching.

The crotch of the pants probably had a piss stain. Steer clear of ebay.

put your bid in, click "enter bid" and confirm bid at 4-5 seconds to go. hasn't failed me yet.

Sounds more like you got unlucky than you got sniped by a program. The trick is to always put in the max amount that you are willing to pay even if the current bid is a lot cheaper.

Originally Posted by SirGrotius

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The crotch of the pants probably had a piss stain. Steer clear of ebay.

hmm...

Originally Posted by ktrp

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The sniper may have been willing to go another $100 higher. You don't know. The 'simple' answer is you set your max bid to your max bid, and you walk away. If someone else pays more then your max bid, then you don't buy the item because you no longer want to pay that much.
^This... and think of it as a game. I've bid on art in the closing moments where I led at $15 ($400 bid) and two snipers jacked the price to $20,000. I knew I didn't have a chance, but figured a lottery ticket might come in if nobody was watching/sniping.

Originally Posted by SirGrotius

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The crotch of the pants probably had a piss stain. Steer clear of ebay.

It's so ******* hit or miss. I've found some amazing deals but I've been burned time and time again, despite getting more and more cautious.

Originally Posted by 604Coast

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Thanks for the tips. Yea in that case I had moved my max bid to $210.01, and had my high bid in the lead at $200 until it went 5 seconds left, the guy must have anticipated I would go to $210 and went to $212. He got a sweet deal. I've been looking for a high quality solid navy 2 button suit for a reasonable dollar and this fit the ticket, I'm a total eBay rook though as I proved tonight!

Always remember that it is impossible to have any idea whatsoever what another winning bidder's max bid was! Yes, you "lost the suit by $2" if you want to think about it that way, but the winning bidder could very easily have typed $5000 or MSRP of the suit with only a few seconds left.

Originally Posted by 604Coast

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Was bidding on this great bang for the buck staple navy 2btn Oxxford suit:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190503360356&ssPageName=STRK:MEDWX:IT

The last 4 seconds I got sniped, for another 2$ on top of my "max bid". I'm a bit irritated because I'm thinking the ahem, gentleman, sniped using some sort of program. How have you iGents avoided being hosed like this?

I believe there is a very similar suit selling for nearly half that in B&S right now. Looks like it didn't take long for another deal to come along!

i've bought a few things off ebay now and for me anyway, there was a learning curve. at first, i got "lucky" and bought a couple of things without much trouble. unfortunately, those turned out to be things that went in my first purge ... there's a learning curve to understanding what you want, too. then i hit a spell where i was getting sniped on everything i wanted. almost gave up. finally -- and this sounds weird -- the iphone ebay program really helped. i post my max bid with 1:30 remaining and then hit confirm with 30 seconds left ... that and realizing that if you lose because someone else is willing to pay more ... well, that's the way it works.
plus, there's always another deal down the road. i get all jacked up about the auction, but when you keep after it for a couple of months, you'll have multiple shots at everything you want.

Originally Posted by Sebastian_Flyte

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put your bid in, click "enter bid" and confirm bid at 4-5 seconds to go. hasn't failed me yet.

Originally Posted by Sebastian_Flyte

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put your bid in, click "enter bid" and confirm bid at 4-5 seconds to go. hasn't failed me yet.

Originally Posted by Sebastian_Flyte

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put your bid in, click "enter bid" and confirm bid at 4-5 seconds to go. hasn't failed me yet.
it completely boggles me how some people think a sniping program does anything different than this. for any person competent at watching a clock and hitting a button, it comes down to how much you're willing to pay, not how the bid gets input. it sounds like OP failed b/c his max bid wasn't high enough. a sniping program wouldn't change that 1 iota the lone exception being when you can't be at your computer when the bidding ends

There's a lot of weird psychology about auction bidding. People get emotionally attached to the item, or worse, start seeing winning it as a game to be won. If you've got a couple people going back and forth on an item, the price can really skyrocket. If you bid early, you're inviting people to push your price up and also indicating that the item is worth bidding on.

Sniping (with a program or manually) shortcuts those issues. I don't like having to sit in front of the computer and place the bid manually, so I use Gixen. I stick my max bid in, and walk away. Sometimes you'll get two or three other people trying to snipe, and whoever had the highest bid just wins.

There's really no reason to ever not snipe an item, other than BIN or offering to buy something off Ebay.

You really can't avoid getting sniped. If someone is willing to pay more for an item than you are, they'll get it. Establish a value, enter your bid. If you lose, move on.

Come Come now! Sniping last minute only works when the sniper is an "active" bidder, and you are a "passive" bidder.

What was your attitude towards this suit?

Was your inner sanctum thinking along the lines of "I really hope I get this suit nice and cheap"?

If you are trying to get the suit for a steal, and your mentality is one that is passive (based on optimism rather than reality), then be prepared to be sniped many times in your lifetime.

I go along these lines of reasoning:

• If I want the item that badly, I will bid in last 10secs and place a bid at least 50% above what I would ordinarily pay. If some sniper wins, then they win fair and square. Tough ****.
  
  To make my top bid fair, I research the value of a similar item by looking through ended items, go for a mean value, and then go 50% above that. If I really really times 10 really want something, then my last 10secs bid is full MSRP. This approach wins about 80% - 90% of auctions, mostly for significantly less than you expect.

• Most of the time, I do not want an item that badly. I may be very interested, but not to the point I will lose sleep if I get outbidded. I would bid last 10secs and place a passive/more conservative bid to try and steal it. If I get sniped, then that is to be expected. This approach wins about 20% of auctions but most the time I do not mind so much losing. I still get pissed off if I lose occasionally - there are often times I would like to get that shirt or that suit for cheap, and when I cant, me feel dissapointed
  
  .

In your case, get over that suit. It is a Navy Oxxford, plenty of these around. I bet within a month something like that comes up again. Trust me on that one .