Auto Bid Snipe And Sniping Questions Answered FAQ
- What is auto bidding?
- What is sniping?
- How did sniping get its name?
- Who invented sniping?
- Who wrote the first Snipe software program?
- What do they call people that Snipe?
- Why should I Snipe?
- What kinds of bid snipe software programs are there?
- What are the pros and cons of the different types?
- Can I use both?
- Do sellers like it when people snipe and auction?
- Do other bidders like sniping?
- Does eBay like sniping?
- I heard Sniping was outlawed in Germany is that true?
- Is sniping illegal or against the rules?
- Is sniping ethical?
- How many people snipe auctions?
- Why does sniping win so many auctions?
- How do you defend against another Sniper?
- What is BIOFIYA (by o fee ya)? Is it something bad?
- When do Snipers lose?
- I've been told that the best way to win is to get the bid in the fastest and the latest. Is this true?
- Is Snipe software secure?
- Are there risks to sniping?
Q) What is auto bidding?
A) Auto bidding is using a software program to submit a bid.
Bid are submitted by software programs in order to free up your time.
Q) What is sniping?
A) Sniping is placing a bid in at the very end of an auction.
Q) How did sniping get its name?
A) Somebody back on eBay back in the dim and misty coined the
term to describe the behavior because it was similar to a real sniper that lays
in wait and usually only takes one shot.
Q) Who invented sniping?
A) Nobody knows.
Q) Who wrote the first snipe software program?
A) David Eccles the author of the Cricket Power Sniper
program.
Q) What do they call people that snipe?
A) It depends how hated sniping is by the person that was
sniped. In all other cases people that snipe are called snipers.
Q) Why should I
Snipe?
A) The answers are many
- The odds are you will save money and a lot of times LOTS of money and you will do this consistently.
- You do not worry about bad sellers shilling your proxy bid.
- You do not watch your earlier bid get chipped away by new or indecisive bidders.
- You do not get you bid eaten up by a professional re-seller that would never bid what the item is worth but will bid you up to see if they can get the item at half value.
- You make no buying commitment until the end of the auction freeing you up to look for better items in the mean time.
- Related to above getting out of an early bid cannot be done without a bid retraction. Something very frowned on in the online auction business.
- You learn how to bid a true maximum bid and avoid getting into a bidding war.
- You know when you have won or lost immediately. Compare that to coming back to re-bid all week long if somebody is bid bumping you.
- It is pretty rare that you do not recoup the cost of a Snipe program in the first few wins.
Q) What kinds of bid snipe software programs are there?
A) There are basically two kinds. The first is a software
program that resides in your computer and the other is run on a web server. They
both have their pros and cons.
Q) What
are the pros and cons of the different types?
A) Lets take a look
Snipe software that resides on your computer
Pros
It is a one time purchase price
You have total control of the snipe
Your eBay user ID and password is secure
You are not violating the eBay user agreement regarding your ID and password.
Exclusively with Cricket Power Sniper, eBay cannot tell you are using Snipe software.Cons
eBay can make a change that cause the program to not get the bid in.
Patches can take a few days to be received.
Problems with your ISP can cause problems for the program.
Problems with the NET can cause problems for the program.
Problems with your phone line can cause problems for the program.
You can forget to run your Snipe program.
Your computer can crash.
Snipe software that resides on a web server
Pros
Patches made due to eBay changes are transparent to you.
Snipe web snipe services charge a one time fee to use them.Cons
eBay can make a change that cause the program to not get the bid in.
Problems with their ISP can cause problems for the program.
Problems with the NET can cause problems for the program.
Their computer can crash.
You do not have total control of the snipe unless you log in.
Your eBay user ID and password is less secure
You are violating the eBay user agreement regarding your ID and password and per their Germany snipe case, the same could happen here.
eBay can knows exactly where the Snipe bid comes from and can flip a switch and turn them off by not allowing access to their site. eBay has been known to do this.
Those that charge you by the bid are always making money off you.
If eBay implements the Gif security measure when submitting a password they are out of business.
Q) Can I use both?
A) Yes you can and if you do you almost create a cannot
lose scenario of you have the winning bid. You must remember to use the same ID
for any given item. Cricket Power Sniper offers an optional feature called the
Double Bid Back Up wherein an end user can use Cricket to interface with the
second oldest Snipe program in the world. Cricket can auto set the bid with the
web snipe service.
Q) Do sellers like it when people snipe and auction?
A) Generally they do and are often seen doing the Sniper Rain
dance.
Q) Do other bidders like sniping?
A) All snipers respect all other snipers however there are a
lot of bidders that get ugly when sniped.
Q) Does eBay like sniping?
A) eBay officially takes no position publicly but behind the
scenes they cause the developers heartache at times. Here is some old snipe
software history and some more recent
history. eBay does use the word sniping as an advertising keyword to
attract business and the do not allow the selling of firearms on their site.
Q) I heard Sniping was outlawed in Germany is that true?
A) Yes and no. eBay used membership security as an issue publicly
with a web snipe service as a reason to take them to court. The trial
was actually about false advertising on the part of the web snipe service
claiming that snipers always win. eBay did convince the German courts to make
web service sniping illegal. It is not illegal to snipe auction on eBay Germany
by other means to my knowledge. However Cricket Power Sniper uses only eBay USA
to bid.
Q) Is Sniping Illegal or against the rules?
A) No and no. Here is eBay's
words on the subject and eBay will not investigate
sniping
Q) Is Sniping ethical?
A) It would depend on how you define ethical. Some find it
perfectly reasonable and sensible to snipe an auction to save money. Nobody is
hurt in the process. Sellers sometimes do not realize as much money for their
item but this is no different then purchasing anything that is negotiable. Often
seller realize more money by snipers because when there is more then one sniper
attending the auction, the sniper knows to bid all the money.
Q) How many people snipe auctions?
A) It's been estimated about 5% snipe. There are no hard
statistics because eBay will not provide such.
Q) Why does sniping win so many auctions?
A) This is a good question. The reasons are many. First
take notice that eBay just loves and encourages a bidder to use their proxy
bidding system early on in an auction. Sniping wins so many auctions because
- Most bidders do not use proxy system the way eBay designed it to be used. As eBay likes they bid early but rarely their maximum bid. Snipers always bid the maximum and take complete and full advantage of the eBay proxy machine by bidding very late in the auciton.
- There is a natural human tendency to not want to give up all the money at once.
- When the snipe bid is submitted it always wins if the current high bidder is out bid. The bid wins because the auction suddenly closes seconds later, there is no more time to bid. The former high bidder if there was one gets a Dear John letter from eBay asking them to bid again and it will be too late, always.
Q) How
do you defend against another Sniper?
A) Very simply. You bid the most. The Sniper Rain Dance is all about hoping
more then one Sniper shows up for the end of the auction. This is when the
seller will realize the most money for their item possible in most cases.
Q) What
is BIOFIYA (by o fee ya)? Is it something bad?
A) BIOFIYA is a crude term used at live auctions by
regular bidders on an auction circuit. It means, Break or Broke It Off In
Your Ass. If a bidder makes another bidder mad, the mad bidder starts
bidding up the price with absolutely no intention of winning. When they feel
they have bid you up enough, or making you pay, they break off the bidding.
It happens on eBay too. When you Snipe you prevent this nasty thing from
happening to you.
Q) When
do Snipers lose?
A) Only when they do not bid enough to win and if their is
operator malfunction or program or other malfunctions that causes a bid to not
go in or to go in late. With Cricket Power Sniper's Optional Double Bid Back Up
feature and its ability to measure internet delay along with atomic synching and
eBay official time comparisons the odds of this occurring if you bid enough to
win is rare indeed.
Q) I've
been told that the best way to win is to get the bid in the fastest and the
latest. Is this true?
A) The later you bid in the auction the better your
chances of saving money. However it is a myth that faster is better and the
closer to the end of the auction you bid after 10 seconds is left the better
your odds of winning.
Remember the rule: It is not the Snipe that wins in the end but by bidding the most. The Snipe helps greatly to win of course but only the bidder with the most money put in the proxy will win.
Online Snipe service's #1 brag is they have the fastest connection. Even some Cricket users that have T1 or this or that broad band sometimes believes this is their best weapon after the program. It is not. Cricket Power Sniper uses a target time. This target time is a point in time where the auction is going to end. The time is typically 10 seconds. It does not matter one iota if takes a day to travel to T -10 seconds or 3 seconds. The truth is, the closer to the end of the auction after there is 10 seconds left, the more risk is put on the Snipe Bid.
In addition setting a target time that is even 15 or 20 seconds left in the auction is nearly as safe as 10 but it puts your Snipe Bid at less risk because there is more time.
Q) Is snipe software secure?
A) Personal Computer Snipe software is as secure as your
computer. Your ID and Password are sent to eBay via SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)
encryption. Your ID and password on web snipe service is only as secure as that
server on which it resides.
A) Yes. There is risk of a malfunction, from the software program itself to the many things the software program depends on to get the mission accomplished. Snipe software be it on your personal computer or on a web server.
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