Thoughts on bidding against other forum members

The guy is a sore loser, but using a "sniping service" is just plain wrong. I am against sniping to begin with, but using an automated program to do it is just plain unethical, IMHO. If you "can't stand to see auction prices get bid up days before the end of the auction," then you shouldn't be using eBay, IMHO. Anyway, my $.02.

 

wow that guy really is crazy!

 

yeah but it all comes down to the max you are willing to pay. It really doesn't matter when you place your bid so much.

 

I accept that. I don't have so much a problem with manual sniping. It's the programs and services that I have a big problem with. It's all good, though, as I don't participate in bid auctions anyway.

 

I don't have a problem with another forum member outbidding me. If he or she's willing to pay more, so be it.

As a practical matter, I think it would almost impossible to figure out people's eBay handles and then trnaslate that to forum members. It's not like there's three dozen of us anymore.

 

The highest bid wins, that's life on eBay. That guy is just

 

You have to laugh at some people and may the best man win at auctions.

 

It all depends on the item I'm considering to bid on, as well as who the member is. Although I have no problem bidding against the forum members and vice versa, I do stop myself from bidding now and again when I see a forum member that I particularly like installed as the high bidder. In that case, I take a pass if I feel that there will be another day to get the same item ... in other words, most of the time.

A variation on that tactic is to place a modest bid to see if the said member has only placed a low-ball bid ... in which case I'd have no problem entering the full amount I'm willing to pay.

 

Next time ashlee5 outbids me, at least I'll know where I rank.

 

Not clear why you're so against sniping. My comment about prices getting bid up really was in regard to shill bidding, which is way too easy to do and i believe runs rampant on Ebay and, by the way, is not only unethical, but illegal. Sniping, whether manually or automated, is neither. As somebody else said, who cares when the bid comes in? Anybody can use a service. They are perfectly legit, and frankly, pretty cheap. I like to think it gives the buyer some control in the process that normally only the seller has.

 

I definitely agree that shill bidding is way more egregious than sniping.

Anyway, regardless of my personal views on sniping, that dude was definitely out of line.

 

To the original question, I don't like to bid against people I know but there are just too many people on this forum to worry about it. The other night I was bidding against a forum member with whom I'm on friendly terms (as far as I know )

I'm not sure if people are aware of it but I believe that making prior arrangements with another potential bidder is illegal. Though I'm sure it happens a lot and probably very few people are caught at it. I know I've had friends ask me to stand down on items before. Also on eBay, writing to another bidder about anything, let alone their bidding method could get you in trouble. It's just not worth it IMO no matter how angry you are with the other person's method of winning an item.

 

We have to be good sports about this stuff!

 

If ebay were a real auction, a snipe or any bid in the last few minutes would extend the auction closing time a few minutes so the seller could get the best price - real auctions close when there are no more bids.

 

I am with Anselm on this one.

If the items normally sells for $100 and the current bid is low, I am bidding. If the item is close to normal market value, I will wait for another day.

 

I really don't think you did anything wrong. All is fair in love and eBay.

To be honest, I have refrained from sniping on a few occasions when I realized that I would be sniping an item where another SH Forums member has the high bid. We Gorts take enough grief as it is without having to deal with the flurry of angry PMs that a snipe might bring.

If I really want something, I'll do a search on the high bidder's username and if they didn't register in our ongoing "what is your eBay handle" thread, I'll go for it.

 

Actually, sniping has ended up saving me quite a bit of money. I can't tell you how many times I put ridiculous bids on items that, after losing the auction, I realized I didn't really want or need (or couldn't afford) at the time.

 

Actually, I find it most annoying when the sniper hits the exact amount that I bid and I end up winning at my maximum bid.

 

Too bad, he's the one that should apologize to you for sending unsolicited angry guy emails.

 

Here's how I handle it these days...

If I see a forum member has placed a bid well ahead of the end of auction (it could be 3 or 4 days, or 3 or 4 hours), I most likely won't bid against them.

However, if there is no forum member (or at least a forum member I am not aware of), who hasn't bid on the item, then I am going to assume the item will be sniped, and I have no problem sniping under those circumstances. And I'm pretty much assuming I'll be sniping against fellow forum members.

If we're all sniping, then it's every man for themselves, in my opinion.

 

If with three or four hours to run I haven't seen any of you place a prior bid, sure I go for it. If you had a prior bid, I might think twice if it was just just a bid for a second copy otherwise it's every woman and man for themselves.

 

Bidding against another forum member seems unavoidable to me, so I wouldn't be angry if it happened.

However, when another forum member knowingly uses my auction prices to price his stuff slightly lower, I get frustrated...that's happened here once.

Back when the remastered first two Boston cds were first released, they were sent to Canada by mistake despite being recalled in North America.

This made it exceptionally rare, and so I was selling pairs on ebay. I sold two pairs, than noticed I had competition, at a price roughly $20 lower than mine, and it was a forum member...I searched the name here and found out who it was.

Not wanting to appear overpriced, I matched his price exactly, no less....and then within an hour, he dropped his price again! I matched it again, and he dropped it again so I contacted him telling him I was from the forum, and I asked him why he was being so cut-throat, and he never replied.

I know he knew I was from the forum before the email, references to my sales were made on the various Boston threads, and my auctions even mentioned this forum, so he wasn't ignorant of who I was, he was just being unreasonable. His original price was high like mine, so it's not like it was a moral thing, he was just being a jerk... even using much of the same wording like he cut and pasted it!

Now that's BS...bidding against another member via an electronic bidding system doesn't even come close...snipers often set everything up before there are bids, so they don't know who they're bidding against... I can't see that as an attack on a fellow forum member, not like what happened with me.

 

I assume your auctions must have been BIN's? That option leaves things wide open for that type of behavior.

I assume that person is off your Christmas card list

 

Agree 100% Scott. A lot of forum members have helped me out in the past so if I see a familiar name as high bidder I usually wait for another time.

 

I think the only time I've bid against another forum member was in a Pink Floyd WYWH 2-track auction. We were both sniping though and he almost doubled my bid