spyked
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posted on August 18, 2001 09:19:40 AM
Any feelings about eSnipe? I just signed up -
and think it will be beneficial - especially for bidding on those auctions that end during working and sleeping hours!
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NothingYouNeed
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posted on August 18, 2001 09:31:03 AM
I use eSnipe and love it! Set it and forget it. It's never let me down.
Gerald
"Oh but it's so hard to live by the rules/I never could and still never do."
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figmente
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posted on August 18, 2001 09:35:13 PM
Do they still have the initial fee structure?
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spyked
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posted on August 19, 2001 03:51:30 AM
Anything you bid on UNDER $25 is free. I'm not sure what the fees are for bids over $25.
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vobistdu
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posted on August 19, 2001 07:08:53 AM
Just went and read their TOS:
1) Wins over $24.99 cost 1%
2) After 9/3/2001, wins UNDER $25 will cost $0.25 UNLESS you've already registered with them or ever bought any of their payment "points". Then you'll be grandfathered in and "never" pay an eSnipe fee for any auction win under $25.
3) Dutch auctions cost $1 per win regardless of the final price or quantity.
I'm not sure if I'd want to give them my ebay info, but I would really like to hear more feedback from others here about any problems re: eSnipe....
Edited to add Dutch auction line.
[ edited by vobistdu on Aug 19, 2001 07:19 AM ]
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docadoodle
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posted on August 19, 2001 08:23:19 AM
I use vrane and auctionstealer.com
Both are free and have been excellent.
I can be a bit obsessive, so on a really important auction I use both at the same time in case one fails (although that has never happenned).
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camachinist
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posted on August 19, 2001 08:33:37 AM
I do a fair amount of sniping using Vrane (mainly for convenience, not nearly as much fun as doing it in real time) and have had no problems to date. I tend to bid only on a few high dollar items at a time so don't need a larger amount of active snipes running than they allow for free.
Personally, I don't know that I'd pay a percentage of my bid as a fee for service....perhaps a fixed dollar amount per month. Or, maybe just set the alarm clock to make sure I was up to do it manually *G*.
Just took a peek at esnipe's Services page....hmmm....looks like buying on eBay (with sniping) gets as complex as selling there...
For now, I'll stick to Vrane...I like the ability to check the details on the seller, feedback, bids and the item all from one listing.
I couldn't find any information on esnipes site regarding these features and I'm loathe to sign up in their absence...
Perhaps someone can educate me....
Pat
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skeetypete
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posted on August 19, 2001 10:12:35 AM
I prefer to do my sniping personally. the feeling you get, heart racing, sweaty palms, 30 seconds, 20, 15, 12...enter bid, come on cable modem...BAM 4 seconds left, i am the high bidder, BAM BAM auction over I WIN...what a feeling...FEED THE RUSH!!!!
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commentary
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posted on August 19, 2001 10:17:44 AM
I use both eSnipe and Vrane. I find eSnipe more reliable. Have missed a couple of bids with Vrane. None with eSnipe under the new system. Not sure if missed bids was due to eBay or Vrane. As Vrane does not disclose any site issues, hard to tell reason for missed bids.
I do a lot of snipes - couple of hundred a month. Thus, the manual route is not workable. eSnipe is great for that. I am not sure about Vrane. Unless one signs up for the service, I think the number of snipes you have outstanding is limited. Not really clear on this as I only use Vrane on a limited basis.
I agree with other posters that paying a fee based on win amount does not make economic sense. It takes the same resource to place a snipe on a $1 lot as a $1000 lot. I personally think eSnipe pricing plan is flawed. Think they should charge a flat annual fee instead. Like $20/year.
I recommend that if you buy often on eBay, you sign up for eSnipe now and pay the minimum $5 fee for 500 points. This will grandfather you in so snipes of under $25 will be free forever, that is, if they don't change the rules again. At worst, you will only lose $2 (the refund fee) if you end up not using the service and need to request a a refund of the $5.
By the way, manual snipes is not that way to go. I think there is a higher chance of not being able to connect to eBay due to power problems or forgetting to bid than eSnipe missing a bid.
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camachinist
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posted on August 19, 2001 10:28:48 AM
skeetypete
Amen brother! Love that adrenaline high...*G*
It was even more fun IMO back when we had to anticipate the page load delays and transmission times of the old 28.8 modems on dial-up...
Success was getting the winning bid on dial-up with the bid and the close time being identical....winning by one cent was just a bonus 
I've only done that twice in my sniping career...
But then one gets married and has a life outside of the computer...
Pat
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docadoodle
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posted on August 19, 2001 12:30:37 PM
I agree nothing beats a real live snipe for the shear fun of it, however in the past I have lost snipes when my internet provider went down (for any Rogers@home subscribers you can identify) plus to my wife's relief I can't be on the computer 24 hours per day.
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skeetypete
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posted on August 19, 2001 12:35:32 PM
camachinist
i hear what you are saying although the win factor was greatly reduced back in the day...my 1st computing unit was the original webtv, it had a 28.8...usually didn't want to bid after 20 seconds on that and that was really pushing it....i actually won an auction with zero seconds showing on the time left, with my webtv...i thought i had lost but ohhh no!!!
i sell 90% now and i must say i miss that rush.
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skyhighpn
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posted on August 22, 2001 03:00:30 PM
I found bidnapper.com a while ago. They're free right now but will start changing soon. They just release what they are changing and I like it better than esnipe's. I also like how they show up-to-date info on bid times and lates.
Dan
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capotasto
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posted on August 22, 2001 03:12:49 PM
"I'm not sure if I'd want to give them my ebay info, ..."
So how do you expect them to place a bid for you without that info?
The 1% charge is fine with me, you pay it ONLY if you win the item! Better than a flat monthly or yearly fee, especially if you don't win! And at $20 per year that's 1% of $2,000 -- I don't spend that much on ebay so I'd rather pay the 1%.
Finally, esnipe is reliable. You get what you pay for.
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violetta
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posted on August 22, 2001 04:46:22 PM
I've used both esnipe and vrane. I found vrane to be more reliable. esnipe is reliable -- I only lost 2 or 3 snipes. The only snipe I lost from vrane was when ebay had an outage... not vrane's fault! (I'm not counting losses when my snipe wasn't high enough to beat another bidder -- that is my fault, not the sniper software's.) I stopped using esnipe when they began charging.
Violetta
(Not known by this nickname anywhere but here.)
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flynlizards
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posted on August 22, 2001 08:23:09 PM
Thanks for the info and the heads up on the date. Gave me a good reason to go ahead and register. That was too easy!
Bought my first 500 points and placed 2 snipe bids in, ALL in less than 10 minutes!
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