[lightbright84]

and I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, if I'm allowed to at all, but I figured I'd give it a shot. I just got this program that can track your auctions for you on eBay and bid for you even. It's helped me out quite a bit especially on my latest shopping binge. It's called Nabit and you can check it out at http://www.m30.ca/nabit

If this isn't the right place to post this, feel free to delete! I just thought I'd share this with everyone incase it helps some people out even a bit.

 

[needcheap]

Auctionsniper.com does the same thing.

 

[lightbright84]

I can't say I've ever used that one. Nabit was pointed out to me by a friend. Though I'm sure those aren't the only two out right now.

 

[westin]

Bidding wars.... it takes restraint not to get into them. Figure out what is the max you will pay, bid, walk away. You win, you win. The whole sniping thing is for people who can't control themselves. Although the option to Cancel your bid is a nice thing. Okay, I take back everything. Auctionsniper.com is a good option.
Although they do charge:

New users are not charged for the first three auctions they win using Auction Sniper. Thereafter, we charge only 1% of the final auction price with a minimum fee of US$0.25 and a maximum fee of US$9.95 for only the auctions that you win. Please review the chart below.

 

[lightbright84]

Hahah, that sounds like quite an advertisement there, do you work for them or something? What chart are you refering to?

But why would you pay for something when Nabit is free? Personally I'd rather not pay more than I have to.

 

[westin]

nabit just looks hokey.
no, i don't work for that other sniper thing.
i don't think i'd ever use one.
i bid and never go over my limit.
if it's meant to be, it's meant to be.
and it doesn't work with Mac.

do you work for nabit?

 

[shiggy]

nabit just looks hokey.
no, i don't work for that other sniper thing.
i don't think i'd ever use one.
i bid and never go over my limit.
if it's meant to be, it's meant to be.

I use sniping services once in a while. I setup my bid early and forget about it. Keeps the price from being bid up early and reduces the chance of being outbid. The services still keep me from overbidding.

 

[Boogie Van]

Bidding wars.... it takes restraint not to get into them. Figure out what is the max you will pay, bid, walk away. You win, you win. The whole sniping thing is for people who can't control themselves. Although the option to Cancel your bid is a nice thing. Okay, I take back everything. Auctionsniper.com is a good option.

I think a mixture of regular bidding and sniping are the way to go depending on the auction.

In some cases you might want to bid up an item to reduce the attractiveness of an auction to other bidders.

While in other cases if you put in your maximum amount there is always some loser that puts in 10 bids until you reach the maximum bid you put in, almost in an attempt to see how high you bid.

Ideally you want to get the best deal possible - not pay the maximum you are willing to pay (if that makes sense).

2 services that do not charge or install software on your computer are:

http://www.snipeville.com/ and http://www.vrane.com/snp.html

I've used them extensively and they have never failed me.

 

[shiggy]

I think a mixture of regular bidding and sniping are the way to go depending on the auction.

In some cases you might want to bid up an item to reduce the attractiveness of an auction to other bidders.

While in other cases if you put in your maximum amount there is always some loser that puts in 10 bids until you reach the maximum bid you put in, almost in an attempt to see how high you bid.

Ideally you want to get the best deal possible - not pay the maximum you are willing to pay (if that makes sense).

2 services that do not charge or install software on your computer are:

http://www.snipeville.com/ and http://www.vrane.com/snp.html

I've used them extensively and they have never failed me.

I used http://www.auctionraptor.com They offer a one month free trial. Used another that gave you three free bids (if the item was already bid higher than you wanted it did not count) with no time limit. I had success with both.

 

[seeker]

how many of you believe shill bidding is a problem?

i know theres idiots in this world, and people are suckers for auctions, but how else can you explain prices bid up to and above the going retail/etail rates - when places like campmor, rei, jenson, nashbar etc are always going to be safer to deal with than some anonymous ebay seller.

anyway, i believe shill bidding is a real issue that deserves more mention than you seem to read about anywhere. i think newbie ebay shoppers are largely ignorant of this peril, thinking ebay is the same purchasing experience as any other place.

i'm sure ebay's doing everything possible to fight this. right. ?.

 

[westin]

i know theres idiots in this world, and people are suckers for auctions, but how else can you explain prices bid up to and above the going retail/etail rates - when places like campmor, rei, jenson, nashbar etc are always going to be safer to deal with than some anonymous ebay seller.

anyway, i believe shill bidding is a real issue that deserves more mention than you seem to read about anywhere. i think newbie ebay shoppers are largely ignorant of this peril, thinking ebay is the same purchasing experience as any other place.

i'm sure ebay's doing everything possible to fight this. right. ?.

It's rampant. You can have another account at work (doing both accounts on one isp will get you caught) or have a friend do the bidding. That's why you just bid your max and leave it at that. Bidding wars are for... you know.

 

[Boogie Van]

It's rampant. You can have another account at work (doing both accounts on one isp will get you caught) or have a friend do the bidding. That's why you just bid your max and leave it at that. Bidding wars are for... you know.

I agree with you - it is rampant and in some cases quite obvious. In the case where you see someone Person A make a bid, then you see Person B bid multiple times (the shill) to boost the price, then Person A or C bids it up again and there goes Person B bid multiple times again to put up the price.

If you're suspicious all you have to do is check Person B's history and see whose auctions they have bid on. If it's the sellers then what you in all likelyhood have is Person B being a shill bidder. There are services (like the Vrane one I posted earlier) who will sort through a users long term bidding history.

In all due respect to the other point you made. In the case of shill bidding then probably a last minute snipe is the best thing you can do. Imagine this scenario:

You see a set of cranks on ebay and you know normally they go for $120 at some online retailer. The bidding starts at $50 and you put in your max bid price of $90 at the onset to get a deal.

Well then Shilly McShill comes along and bumps up your price, making a bid $5 at a time until he gets to $90 and notices that your autobidder did not bump it up to $95. He then realizes that your max bid price is $90 and leaves it at that. If someone comes and outbids you that's great for him. If nobody else cared for the auction and no one else were to bid then at least he's going to get $90 for the cranks in a dishonest way. You would normally of got the cranks for $50 if he didn't shill bid.

Then imagine the same scenario if you sniped the auction. In the last 5 seconds you bid $90 but since nobody else did (or perhaps only a couple of bidders bumped up the cranks a few dollars) so you get it much closer to the $50 the auction started at, not the $90 it was bumped up to dishonestly.

Sometimes you will pay the maximum you would of but you have much less of a chance you would be paying that amount due to a shill.

 

[lightbright84]

nabit just looks hokey.
no, i don't work for that other sniper thing.
i don't think i'd ever use one.
i bid and never go over my limit.
if it's meant to be, it's meant to be.
and it doesn't work with Mac.

do you work for nabit?

Sorry it took so long to respond, my internet has been going crazy. No I don't work for Nabit, I just can appreciate a good program, I guess. I really just thought it would be helpful for some people. I have a PC, so I never realized that it didn't work for Macs, that really sucks. Sorry man, I just thought I'd let everyone know. But I'm not going to force you guys to use it if you don't want to.

But from my understanding, I asked a few eBay junkies about sniping, as I've honestly never heard it before, but it's different from Nabit. Nabit will bid once someone over bids you, like an auction should be. Not just bidding like a cent at the last minute.

Once again, this is all just off opinion. I like it, Nabit, not my opininon. Hahah, so if you don't want to use it, that's cool.

 

[shiggy]

...But from my understanding, I asked a few eBay junkies about sniping, as I've honestly never heard it before, but it's different from Nabit. Nabit will bid once someone over bids you, like an auction should be. Not just bidding like a cent at the last minute...

Then I would not use it. Makes no sense to run the price up early and ebay will auto "bid" up to your maximum anyway.

 

[lightbright84]

Then I would not use it. Makes no sense to run the price up early and ebay will auto "bid" up to your maximum anyway.

I just find it easier to have it on my desktop instead of having to log onto eBay all the time. I always end up logging out because I'll click a link and lose it. Maybe I just do that, though. Hahahah.