Those snide conniving bastards
who use software to snipe your bids AUTOMATICALLY two seconds before the auction closes so that EVEN IF YOU SIT UP TILL 2AM to watch it finish you CAN'T bid again before time runs out and you lose those novelty fridge magnets of kittens in beermugs you were going to get your aunt for her birthday and hnn hnn HNNNN HNNNNNNN I am going to go for a lie down
(Rise and Fall of the Atomic Cabbage Haven't you heard of suspension of disbelief?, Sat 6 Oct 2012, 1:32, 10 replies)

Bid-snipers haven't been relevant in years. Their MO - bidding by increments up to a specified maximum (otherwise, two bidding robots fighting one another would bankrupt the planet) - is now incorporated into e-Bay's "maximum bid". It's only the waverers who won't commit in advance to a maximum price who lose out to them now.
( Happy Phantom has been to Hastings, Brighton, and Eastbourne too, Sat 6 Oct 2012, 1:59, closed)

umm. no.
That's the way eBay has always worked.
(Well, for at least 14 yeas, see earlier post).
If people were not retards - see original poster - and used eBay as it should be - you work out what price you're happy to lose it at, bid that, and wait till the end, then there would be no need for software.
The problem occurs because retarded monkeys decide that as someone else wants it in the last 5 mins, their previous considered opinion must be wrong.

Sniping software works as it avoids these fuckwits reconsidering, by bidding the maximum you are willing to pay several seconds before the end, and not giving them time to convince themselves they really meant to bid more,
(speedevil, Sat 6 Oct 2012, 2:34, closed)

14 years? That's longer than they've been active in the UK. In any event, that's not how they've always worked - you used to be able to raise the bid to whatever you pleased, rather than have ebay do it by increments. And to raise it again, you'd have to go back through the bidding process.

Bid snipers are entirely obsolete, and have been so for ages. In bidding by increments up to a specified (hidden) maximum, they do exactly the same thing as ebay itself - only slower. If you have a maximum price in mind, and are prepared to stick to it - it really makes no difference if you chuck it out six days or six seconds before the end of the auction.
( Happy Phantom has been to Hastings, Brighton, and Eastbourne too, Sat 6 Oct 2012, 3:11, closed)

I can only assume I must have registered on the .com site.
My used info says Aug 1998.
I see from posts online that I likely was purchasing stuff from the us before the UK site opened.

On the other point.
Sniping software does not get you lower prices if and only if everyone considers their maximum price, and bids it.

The problem is that you get people reconsidering their bids, and putting in 'just a bit more'.
This bumps up the price.
Bidding at the last second is the only real effective counter.
(speedevil, Sat 6 Oct 2012, 3:59, closed)

My understanding was...
If you bid a maximum amount of, say £50 on something then eBay will automatically bid on your behalf up to your maximum. Therefore if the current highest bid is £30, eBay will place a bid of £31 for you, making you the highest bidder. If someone else then bids £32, eBay will re-bid for you at £33, and so on up until the point where someone bids £51 and you have to increase your bid to stay in the running.

Auctionsniper etc on the other hand won't place *any* bid until two seconds (or however long you specify) before the end of the auction - therefore if the highest bid is £30 and you set the sniper to put in a £50 bid with two seconds remaining, you'll win the item for £31, since the other bidder hasn't got time to increase their bid, thus guaranteeing you the item.
(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Sat 6 Oct 2012, 16:16, closed)

This is correct.
And it's the way eBay have always worked AFAIK and I've been selling on there for 10 years or so.
( His Popiness the Hole Invaded Poland on, Sun 7 Oct 2012, 21:49, closed)

Well, yes - in this scenario, the person using AutoSniper (or whatever) would win the auction. THe fact of their using AutoSniper is, however, as irrelevant as Autosniper itself - they won because they bid more money, albeit somewhat late in the day. If the bloke with the original £30 winning bid had specified a maximum of 51 quid, he would have won it - again, on account of having bid more. AutoSniper brought nothing to the party but tardiness.
( Happy Phantom has been to Hastings, Brighton, and Eastbourne too, Sun 7 Oct 2012, 23:44, closed)

The point of sniping an auction though is that the other person doesn't have time to increase their bid
Because by the time they find out they've been outbid the auction has closed.

Your theory is correct, but only if people decide on a maximum amount and bid it, then leave the auction to run. Lots of people don't do that though, they bid a bit, get outbid and then bid again.
(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Mon 8 Oct 2012, 16:49, closed)

I genuinely don't understand why people would do that, but I'll take your word for it - it certainly wouldn't be the stupidest thing I've seen. Still - presuming correct use of the features, it's the highest bid that wins it; the AutoSniper is no more able to extend past its upper limit than ebay's own inbuilt 'maximum bid', so the goods will go to whoever's maximum bid is highest, irrespective of when it was placed...
( Happy Phantom has been to Hastings, Brighton, and Eastbourne too, Mon 8 Oct 2012, 17:08, closed)

You're right
If Auctionsniper bids £50 with 2 seconds remaining, but someone previously bid £51, then you'll still lose the auction. They'll be very surprised though, when the bargain they were about to win for £22.67 suddenly more than doubles in value at the end :)
(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Tue 9 Oct 2012, 10:09, closed)