Topic: To Snipe or Not to Snipe?

[Bob Wessner]

I'll keep that in mind for the future. Have you ever considered a repro?

[cb750_chris]

I have looked in to them but I'm not really interested.  I think if I can find a box that has not been exposed to too much sun or engine heat I'll be better off.  It will hold paint better for sure and I don't intend on riding it enough to damage it again. 

If I was building this bike to be a rider that might be a better option.  I'm sure they are more durable and if baked in a UV light they will hold paint as well. 

[nickjtc]

This is an interesting topic, especially since I am an eBay junkie, much to my missis' chagrin.

But am I missing something here.....? The buyer decides the maximum they want to spend on an item, so surely it doesn't matter when the bid is put in? Even if it is in the last 3 seconds of the auction.

I've felt very smug bidding $5 for an item, only to find that I lost it by 1 cent within seconds of the end of the auction. But I don't beat myself up about it because if I really wanted the item I would have put in a maximum bid of $100 and forgot about it.

Anyone who keeps bidding on an item above what they wanted for it, just to jack the price up and be spiteful, is asking to be caught with their trousers down and end up with the item after all. At a price way higher than they were willing to pay.

[mcpuffett]

i got to agree with the ebay bit, i usually watch till the last seconds then bid unless its jumped in price before hand , missed out on two items this week because the items went higher than i was willing to pay  ,      mick.

[spitfire]

Well I usually check with the David Silver or CMS websites on what the item would cost me with taxes and postage. I then think of a number that would save me money and put a bid in at that figure. If it goes for more it goes, the winning bidder will probably have paid nearer the new price. On hard or impossible to find parts I think of a number that I am willing to pay and stick to it.
In other words if you bid against me you will not get it cheap.

Cheers

Den

[nickjtc]

Well I usually check with the David Silver or CMS websites on what the item would cost me with taxes and postage. I then think of a number that would save me money and put a bid in at that figure. If it goes for more it goes, the winning bidder will probably have paid nearer the new price. On hard or impossible to find parts I think of a number that I am willing to pay and stick to it.
In other words if you bid against me you will not get it cheap.
Cheers
Den

And that's the way the cookie crumbles.....If you reallywant something you have to be prepared to go the distance.

[supersport_CB400F]

Well I usually check with the David Silver or CMS websites on what the item would cost me with taxes and postage. I then think of a number that would save me money and put a bid in at that figure. If it goes for more it goes, the winning bidder will probably have paid nearer the new price. On hard or impossible to find parts I think of a number that I am willing to pay and stick to it.
In other words if you bid against me you will not get it cheap.

Cheers

Den

I do the same….I’m glad you don’t buy 400 parts or my money pit could have cost me a lot more. 

[Terry in Australia]

I've resorted to using a snipe program lately, mainly due to the time difference between the US and Oz, and it's worked quite well, I've won 2 out of 5, and those two were things I really wanted, that only come up on Ebay every other year.

I never worry about what I didn't win, (except on one occasion recently when a "mate" sniped me, but he'll get his come-uppance, ha ha!) like one wise poster has said previously in this thread, you bid what you think it's worth, and if it goes higher, too bad.

You never actually lose by one cent though, the only person who can see what the winning bidders highest bid was is the winning bidder, so he may well have bid 100 bucks more than you, it just depends on what the bid increment the seller has dictated in his auction. Cheers, Terry.  

[mic-57]

Snipe away. It's the only way to play on ebay. I personally won't bid on an auction with a lot of activity early on, when that happens the bidders get emotional and usually drive the price much higher than the item is worth. Just my 2 cents
Mike

[Ratfink]

Snipe or be sniped.

[siter81]

Snipe or be sniped.

Been sniped , now i snipe.
Only way to play the game on evilbay.


Siter81       

[putnaja1]

WARNING: ravings of an old street preacher follow. Don't read this unless you're incredibly bored.  Hell, I   wrote it and I'm embarrased to get caught reading this. 

UE,
Boy am I glad you posted your post- I enjoyed reading it!  "Made in USA" still means something to me- better quality than "Made in China", and plus I know some dude in this country got paid to make it, so I pay more if I have to for Made in USA.  Even the computer jobs that send their work overseas are finding it ain't such a great deal anyhow- lots of Computer development projects have failed or gotten much less than was expected, due to language or cultural barrier.  Usually it ends up they would have been better off to have the work done here.  That's my experiences/opinions anyway.

What's really gonna be interesting to see is, when China releases it's Chinese made automobiles on the world market.  I think the USA will suddenly find our roads completely overloaded with cheap, substandard cars driven by teens.  I think it will be halarious to see cars being sold at Walmart and price club for a few hundred dollars!  Won't it be fun sharing the road with people in disposable cars- while they talk on their cheap cell phones?  Also, if a new car costs a few hundred bucks, what is gonna happen to our automotive service industry?  What will happen to the guys who know how to rebuild motors, transmissions, diagnose and fix the problem when the "Check Engine" or "Check ABS" light comes on?

What's also going to be interesting is, once the USA has all it's industry killed off by developing nations and slave labor, once the USA is no longer the "prime consumer"- (i.e., once China, who is really moving up in the world as a result of manuafacturing and selling all of our goods, then has a per capita income to buy all the goods the USA currently does), I wonder if we will still get the good supply we've been enjoying of said cheap goods?  Or, will China and other developing nations buy them all up?  I keep waiting to read on my box of breakfast cereal "Made in Vietnam".. 

With respect to eBay- I've been sniped, and have sniped.  It's the current way of eBay.  I can tell you this though- I think eBay will figure out a way to limit snipers, because sellers don't like snipers either!  They'd much rather have a good old fashion bid war steadily jacking up prices, than a last minute sniper getting the goods for next to nothing!

[cmorgan47]

i snipe pretty much always.  unless it's something i don't really care about, i snipe.

it's a strategy, and has it's weakness just like any other; if someone put in a bid higher than what you snipe with, you lose and have no chance to rebid.  of course you're going to say if you enter your highest bid, whether you snipe or not if you were outbid you couldn't afford it, but none of you have ever thought, maybe i can pay a little more?

[mic-57]

Also, if a new car costs a few hundred bucks, what is gonna happen to our automotive service industry?  What will happen to the guys who know how to rebuild motors, transmissions, diagnose and fix the problem when the "Check Engine" or "Check ABS" light comes on?

Look what has happened to the consumer electronics repair industry. Who has a television or radio repaired anymore? Most times the repair cost as much as a new item.
China will quickly go the way of all industrial nations as far as labor is concerned (look at japan). As soon as the workers realize that they can do better they will want thier share. As the people become more edjucated and aware they will push for higher wages and a better standard of living. Even China can't stop the flow of information for ever. Of course there is allways another poor country to exploite.
Made in Sudan?
Mike

[racing33]

 Just got sniped for a seat and a clutch baskest for a cb650c. Pissed me off, but that is the game. I still refuse to snipe anybody even though I know the vast majority will do it to me in a minute. I guess I just go along the lines of "treat others the same as you would like to be treated". I do not like getting sniped, so I do not do it and I never will. Some how it feels like ripping someone off when I even think about sniping them. I know it is not, but it still feels like it to me.
Take care
Bruce

[Gordon]

Once again, it's not the LAST bid that wins, it's the HIGHEST. 

[nickjtc]

Once again, it's not the LAST bid that wins, it's the HIGHEST. 

EXACTLY!!!

[cmorgan47]

Once again, it's not the LAST bid that wins, it's the HIGHEST. 

so either snipe, or put 1,000,000 for everything.

[jevfro]

A very good free sniping program...

http://www.jbidwatcher.com/

I always try and make sure I'm not going to snipe anyone off the forum. (username X-ref)

http://www.sohc4.us/forums/index.php?topic=612.0

I guess I'll see all you evil snipers in hell!

[nickjtc]

Again, someone please explain to me what this is all about.....sorry to appear dense.

If you want an item you bid a price for it you want to pay. If someone comes along and bids higher, surely it doesn't matter whether they do it three days or three seconds before the end of the auction?

What am I missing here???

[cmorgan47]

What am I missing here???

2 things from what i can tell...

1) you think you've won it and then realizes 10 seconds later that you didn't (or your price went up)
2) you don't have a chance to rethink what the "most i'm willing to pay for part x" might be.

[nickjtc]

2 things from what i can tell...

1) you think you've won it and then realizes 10 seconds later that you didn't (or your price went up)
2) you don't have a chance to rethink what the "most i'm willing to pay for part x" might be.

How can you 'think' you've won anything until the auction ends??? And if you have to rethink the "how much am I willing to pay?" you didn't bid high enough in the first place.

I've been sniped many times, and many times I've regretted not bidding maybe a little higher. But I don't blame the person that won the auction. They bid higher, they won. End of story.

[cmorgan47]

How can you 'think' you've won anything until the auction ends??? ..... rethink the "how much am I willing to pay?"

these concepts are really that foreign?  never once counted chickens before the hatched?  never thought, alright, "only 3 minutes left and i'm winning, i'm gonna get this _____ "  maybe not, but people do.  they get their hopes up and it's mentally more defeating if the bid pages says you're winning, then they click on "my ebay" to go pay and find that someone else beat them out in the time it took the page to load.

as for rethinking how much the most something is worth, come on, everybody's done that.  you thought 120 was the most but really, if you knew in advance that 120 would loose and 130 would win, you'd pay that extra 10.

again, maybe you're more "ebay-actualized" than most, but i bet something analogous has happened at one point.  you never thought you were getting something for christmas/birthday as a kid and it didn't show up?

that said, yeah, it's ebay...get over it.

[nickjtc]

you never thought you were getting something for christmas/birthday as a kid and it didn't show up?

Nope. My expectations were pretty low in those days!

[Toyman321]

I sniped my bike... 3 seconds on the auction left.

My feeling is that you put the most you are willing to spend, then if you get "sniped" it went out of yout price range so it's no biggie.