posted on November 23, 2007 12:57:09 PM new
beware if you use esnipe. They have totally f*cked the program up. I used it (or tried to) on something for my husband the other day. I got the Ebay thing that said I was the current high bidder and was refreshing the page but then I noticed that someone had time to go in and place 2 more bids. I went back and looked at the bidding times after the auction was over and my "snipe" was going in at 9 frigging seconds! Huh? I don't use 9 seconds! I looked a little more at some of my other snipes and sure enough they were going in anywhere from 7 to 9 seconds. My default is 3 seconds. 9 seconds is a HECK of a LONG time in the Ebay world.
I contacted esnipe and here's what they said:
"Subject: eSnipe response eSnipe Bid Early
Hello,
There are a few different circumstances that could give eSnipe reason to place a bid a few seconds earlier than you originally scheduled it. Because we monitor performance so closely, we can often detect periods when there are delays reaching eBay. These could be caused by delays along the internet pathways between one or more of our server locations and eBay, heavy congestion at eBay causing them to respond a little slower, or sometimes indeterminable causes. When we notice delays, we try and determine the cause. If bids are being missed because of the delays, we will adjust bidding a little earlier. We do this to keep our users from missing the auction end completely, which is what happens when the delays are higher than the buffer times being used. We try to adjust only be enough to keep this from happening, usually 1-3 seconds, but in some cases, the delays may justify an adjustment of 10-15 seconds. Because of the varying buffer times that users choose, sometimes the adjustments aren't enough to catch the really low buffers (less than 6 seconds).
In most cases, these slight adjustments we make to bidding times work in favor of our users, as a bid placed a few seconds early is better than one that would otherwise have not made it to the auction at all. In very rare instances, the timing of your bid (being earlier than planned) can cause you to be outbid, but in most cases, the timing IS NOT the reason that you get outbid. Usually, you would have been outbid even had we placed the bid at the originally scheduled time. If someone else has a snipe scheduled (or does it manually), they most likely already have their maximum bid set, and if it is a higher bid, they would win whether it is registered before or after yours. The only exception is if you bid the EXACT same amount, in which case the first bid in wins and this actually works in your favor.
We do not normally alter users bid timing, but in some cases we feel that doing so will lessen the chance of bids being missed. We DO NOT encourage users to choose lower buffer times to try and work around our adjustments.
We usually don't make adjustments, and we don't do them in the same number of seconds at all times. If you start using a lower buffer time, say 3 seconds instead of 6, thinking we will up it by 3 seconds, and there is even a slight delay, your bid is likely to miss the auction end. It's best to keep with your normal bidding/buffer pattern and understand that if we have altered the timing, it was a good faith effort to make sure your bid was placed during a high delay period.
The only way to win an auction is to be the highest bidder. We always suggest that people not really look at the current high bid. Just look at the auction item, take into consideration what the shipping costs are and make your "true maximum" bid from the start. This is the most that YOU are willing to pay for the item. That paying any more than this amount would not be a good deal, so if someone else outbids you, then they are just willing to pay "too much". This is hard, and when your bid turns out to be just a few cents too low, it can be a heart breaker, but in the end, you want to make sensible purchases on eBay. Can't tell you how many times I've seen items go for 2 to 3 times what someone could have bought them for outright, just because everyone gets into the frenzy of bidding. So bid smart, and bid your "true maximum" up front, and I think you will be overall happy with your eBay/eSnipe experience.
Thank you,
Amy
www.eSnipe.com"
I wrote her back and told her the email said bababababababababa to me. Sure it was probably a form letter.
I changed my snipe time from 3 seconds to 2. Used it today and my snipe time went from 7 seconds to 6 seconds.
USELESS. I told them that I could use a free snipe program for that long of a snipe.
I told them I would not buy anymore bid points unless they fixed the system.
posted on November 24, 2007 09:08:51 PM new
glassgrl give esteal.com a try, (free)
I use 10 sec. & it works for me.
Here's why I use 10 seconds, this is from esteal.
[b]"What is the best Delta Time?
Delta Time is the time to place your bid before the auction closes. Contrary to popular belief. A lower delta time is NOT better! A 10 second delta time is the best delta time to use! Yes, a 10 second delta time is better than other snipers using 5 second delta times. Why? When a bid is placed, you place your 'highest bid' at 10 seconds before the auction close. Once your bid is placed, you will actually beat all 5 second snipers because the 10 second was bid 'first' and a 'tie' in bid will go to you. 10 seconds is also short enough that any manual bidders will not have time to try and 'rebid'."
"What are advantages of a LONGER Delta Time?
A little thought out fact about sniping is that it is not critical to be the last bidder on an auction. The most important thing is that you do not reveal your bid to any "manual" bidders. That way they are not influenced by your bid to place a higher bid at the last minute. In our testing it is difficult (but possible) to read a new bid at 10 seconds before expiration and still place a new higher bid manually. It is virtually impossible to read a new bid at 5 seconds and manually place another bid. Therefore there is no advantage to placing a snipe any closer than 5 seconds to close. Remember that if another snipe is placed that has a higher bid than yours, you will not win regardless of whose bid is placed first. The only circumstance where time is important between two competing snipes is when they are for the same price. In that instance the snipe placed EARLIER (longer number of seconds before close) will win- thus the advantage for having a longer Delta Time."[/b]
posted on November 25, 2007 05:42:20 AM new
Well Tristan at esnipe "said" they made the adjustments to my time and that it should be back to my default snipe time.
I don't agree with the 10 second snipe time. I found out why the other day when I placed a bid on something and then I had a new page with the One Click Bid button and a VERY fast refresh button. Which is why I understand now how another bidder was able to place 2 bids after my snipe went in.
http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=130170465649
You'll see mine was a 9 second snipe. The auction ended at 18:00. My snipe went in at 17:59:50. 910mountain had bid and evidently watching the end of the auction as well. He was the high bidder but when my snipe went in at 9 seconds he had time to place 2 MORE bids using the one click button. This was not a proxy bid - these were actual bids. He had time to see what my high bid was and was able to top that. I'd already gotten the letter from Ebay saying I was the high bidder.
"Hi glassgrl,
So far, so good! Your bid has been confirmed, and you are the high bidder. It's almost yours, but you could still be outbid. You can improve your chances of winning by increasing your bid.
TITLEIST 907 D1 11.5 ALDILA SPEC GRID 67A FLEX HC INCL
Current price: $102.50
Your maximum bid: $102.99"
The possibility of another bid being able to get in in time would have been much less if my 3 second snipe would have gone in.
Theoretically he "could" have gotten another bid in but maybe not.
posted on November 25, 2007 07:16:05 AM new
I guess I don't understand sniping programs although I love snipers. Why wouldn't you put the highest amount you are willing to pay in a snipe? Why should there be any regrets later? If someone outbids you, they were willing to pay more for the item than you were.
[ edited by pixiamom on Nov 25, 2007 07:17 AM ]
posted on November 25, 2007 07:23:09 AM new
pixiamom,
I'm with you on this.
I guess there's a sport about sniping that I don't get. Bidding your max amount a few seconds before the auction ends should be what's required for rational optimization of the cost vs likelihood of winning equation. Anything beyond that is sport; as the punchline to the old joke goes: "this isn't about bear hunting, is it?".
posted on November 26, 2007 09:55:13 PM new
IMHO this post is in vane. It appears that Esnipe was doing you a favor. You really should be thanking them instead of rediculling them.
