Matteeboy

I only usually buy "buy it now" stuff off ebay shops but a couple of auction items have come up that I'd like to grab.

Only time I've done an auction I lost out - it seemed that the winning bidder was either very, very quick or they had something automatic set up.

Is there any way of bidding more quickly (I do have a decent connection but it's not always 100% reliable) or is it just a case of constantly hitting refresh and bidding as quickly as possible?!

Cheers!

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

Do what I do, use a sniping tool

Wins pretty much 90% of what I have bid on in the last few seconds.

Only problem is there are always other people using sniping tools so it is a battle of the servers

I use powersnipe

fivetide

iTrader: (1)

You'll have been sniped.

Depends on your thoughts for this. Either:

1. Put in the amount you think it is worth straightaway and let eBay auto bid for you potentially getting outbid

2. Snipe and do pretty much the same thing at the last second. Put ion the total you want and hope no one has put anything higher in.

The thinking is that sniping stops people doign what you were doing, bidding a bit at a time and putting the price up. If the price stays low then they might put a bit less in as opposed to thinking "its only another fiver, i'll just increase my offer" sort of thing.

Auctionsniper is the place to go. Personally i've had a much success by simply bidding on the thing in eBay and leavign it as i have with Snipes but then i don't buy much off eFence.

5t.

JT386

there isnt an official way to autobid, but there are other methods that are frowned upon by eBay and im sure break their guidelines and rules. They are called sniper programs that bid for you pretty much faster than any human can, i dont think they are 100% aswell so i would probably just trust your right finger and refresh like you've never refreshed before, alternatively just put your absolute maximum amount in and if it goes above that then you can always rest in the knowledge that you couldnt afford it

Andy-C

hammersnipe.com
Does it for me 90% of the time

Stephb1986

goofbay.co.uk

is another with a sniping tool I use it all the time

Steph xx

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

I use the Myibay eBay bid sniper add-on for Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5571

Just put your highest bid in, set it and forget

falkster

I use manual sniper.....a watch and patience!! Only ever been beaten once and thats cos I put my bid in 10 seconds too early!!!

hodgy0_2

Auction Sniper and Sniping Service and Software for eBay Auctions (eBay auction sniper)

never been outbid yet

Spooky Mulder

esnipe

jjones

why do you bid £9999999 on every item?

sniper wont help if someone bids more than your max.

hodgy0_2

yep -- if I want it

Nate

iTrader: (2)

Good old fashioned sniping I use, 2 browsers open, one set with my 'confirm bid' and then place it 2 seconds before end of auction.

tonyrally

someones got to much money

Matteeboy

Well it worked! I now have a rather evil RC car,11.1v li-po battery and charger on it's way from Oz. I used "justsnipe.com"

This is the car:

YouTube - XSTR-pro brushless

YouTube - XSTR-PRO Brushless 4x4 RTR Off Road Race Buggy! Track Test!

BananaHobby - 1:10 XSTR-Pro 4x4 High Speed Brushless Racing Buggy Powered Radio Remote Control RTR Off Road Racer

Floodboy

Whats the point in sniping?

If you want something decide how much YOU are willing to pay and put that as your max bid.

Gordo

Two reasons:

1. You get people bidding up to find out where your max bid is (the vendors i often suspect), who then withdraw their final bid to leave you at or near your maximum. I'm amazed ebay allow people to do this, but I guess it's in their interests.

2. As already mentioned, by only bidding at the last minute, you're not encouraging the price to go up as the auction builds.

Gordo

Matteeboy

Flood - it was partly for convenience - I set a max bid, it did it for me. I'm impressed.

hodgy0_2

because if you are bidding with someone who is doing it manually on a bit of "stuff" worth about £50/70 quid and you are willing to pay say £65.00 -- (if you really want it -- i.e. it is worth much more to you than its commercial value then you put in a bid of £200)

but lets say you put in a bid into bidnip of £65, if the guy doing it manually is willing to pay 65 aswell -- but hasn,t put his maximum bid in yet you will always win the auction for less than you were actually prepared to pay

eerrr i think!!!!

fivetide

iTrader: (1)

I'm with you. As i say i've used it but the success rate is the same. I've put in my max bid a well before the end of an auction and gone back to find i am the highest bidder and there were a flurry of disappointed snipers all bidding right at the end.

Sniping does work well when you have a "just another fiver" bidder though. This is why somethings on eBay can be bought new for less elsewhere. "Auction fever"

5t.

prodriva

Wotcha matey. Just a word of warning about LiPo batteries. They can be VERY unstable (do a search for LiPo battery on youtube and see for yourself). Get yourself a LiPo bag/sack to store and charge them in (particularly for charging). Hopefully the car you've bought has an equalising charging unit which senses the charge in each cell of the LiPo battery. Over time the batteries discharge unequally and when they get very low that's when they become their most unstable.

Matteeboy

Cheers Dave! I did read about them and will be very careful.
How is the bike?

prodriva

Haha, the bike is stunning mate. Even though i'm still running the engine in it's performance is just ridiculous! Got it back last weekend after having some extras fitted. It's only got 45 miles on it and I've started modding allready lol.

Matteeboy

Dave - sounds great!
Just ordered a li-po safety bag. Our house is mainly wooden so fire hazards are not good!

prodriva

Sensible thing to do Matt. I've got an electric 'copter (Blade CX2) which I've just rebuilt. Learning a lot about leccy powered stuff! Also got a nitro 1:10 (superten) Kyosho hopped up to the max in the garage somewhere. Do you remember your mate who lived at the end of your road (Meadow Way). I remember coming over to yours and we went up to see him and he'd just built his Tamiya Frog IIRC. Since then I've allways wanted an RC car.

jjones

think you mean your landlord's house

Matteeboy

Oh yes of course - everyone who rents a house and invites mates over says "why not come back to MY LANDLORDS house" don't they?

So do you say "let's go back to the house that I own part of but is mainly owned by my bank" then?

What is your freaking hang up with us renting?

About as sensible as you can get at the moment. Of course I'll let you know when we buy it outright with NO MORTGAGE - then I can say "OUR HOUSE" can't I? ****.

Meanwhile your place is mostly owned by a bank, is depreciating like a rock off a cliff and is about as appealing as a dog turd in a swimming pool.

powerman1

the ebay system is fundamently flawed because the highest bidder is not always the one who wins, its the last fatest..The fairest way is to set the clock ticking for a further 15 seconds after the last bid and it keeps resetting until the highest winneg bid is placed..just like a real live car/furniture auction