[meteorite-list] The Sniper Mentality

From: Richard Kowalski <damoclid_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:58:00 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <186951.60167.qm_at_web113616.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>

This mentality, waiting until the last few seconds before bidding, is something I just don't get. Maybe someone can explain it to me.

I bid for lots on ebay just like I do when I bid at a real auction. I set in my head what I believe the value of an item and what I have available in my budget to bid for that item. I then bid that much and no more. If I get the item, great. If not, someone wanted it more and we're willing to pay more for the item...

While I will sometimes raise my ebay bid a little before the end of the auction, I really don't understand the idea of sitting there and in the last second or two, to try to jam in bids high enough to win the item.

Do snipers really want the item or are they just trying to screw others out of the item? Are they just trying to get the item at a lower price, thinking that their competitors will just rebid again, upping the price?

I see this on meteorite auctions every so often, but much more often on the Daguerreotypes I bid on. The reason I was reminded of it was a lot I just lost out on. There wasn't just one sniper, but two. The both bid at the exact same time, 2 seconds before the auction ended...

As I said, it doesn't mater that I lost the lot. It went for more than I was willing to pay, so I wouldn't have rebid even if I could.

Possibly someone can explain what is gained by bidding like this instead of just bidding what you think it's worth and letting it go for that...

I'd really like to see ebay eliminate this foolery. It'd be pretty simple. Any bids that occur within one minute of the closing time of the auction automatically resets the end time by 10 minutes, or 30 minutes. The snipers games are eliminated and the dealers (and ebay) gets more profits because the auction remains open for the bidding to continue to higher levels. Just like in a real live auction.

Thanks

--
Richard Kowalski
Full Moon Photography
IMCA #1081
      

Received on Wed 17 Mar 2010 07:58:00 PM PDT