Auction
Sniping ...... AKA "Bid Bots"
If you are going to start SELLING or BUYING more online
you need to use AUCTION SNIPING SOFTWARE.
Sniping software allows you to place a bid in the last few seconds of an
auction without you being there.
How does sniping work? To understand the details behind sniping, you need
to understand proxy bidding. After the seller has set an opening price and
an increment by which bidding will increase, bidders then place the
highest bid they're willing to pay for the item (this amount is kept
secret from all other bidders and the seller). Subsequent bidders do
likewise; every time you're outbid, however, the proxy system increments
the bid to put you back on top, continuing until someone reaches his
limit. At the end of the allotted time for the auction, whoever has the
highest bid wins.
If you only need to snip a few items a month
then use www.auctionstealer.com
OR
http://hammertap.auctionstealer.com (Both have a free account)
Also, eBay has a ToolBar that you can
add to your browser that will help you keeps track of the items you've bid
on and those you're watching. It alerts you before those auctions end so
you can place a bid if you'd like.
For more info OR to download it:
http://pages.ebay.com/ebay_toolbar/
There are 2 types of sniping software.
1.)
Server hosted
- Faster and a better choice if you have a slow internet connection or
can't keep your computer connected to the internet all the time.
2.)
Downloadable software - Works off of your computer but often need a
fast connection (cable or DSL) to send the bids on time.
How many auctions are won
in the last minute?
This is a very interesting
question. To answer this question we took our sample of 3,500 auctions and
stripped out items that received zero bids or were won with Buy It Now,
which left 1,413 auctions. Of those, 215 were won in the last minute -
this table shows when they were won:
| Seconds Won Before End |
Number of Items |
% of Total Items |
| 0 |
2 |
0.1% |
| 1 |
28 |
2.0% |
| 2 |
1 |
0.1% |
| 3 |
8 |
0.6% |
| 4 |
1 |
0.1% |
| 5 to 10 |
53 |
3.8% |
| 11 to 20 |
53 |
3.8% |
| 21 to 30 |
27 |
1.9% |
| 31 to 45 |
31 |
2.2% |
| 46 to 60 |
11 |
0.8% |
| TOTAL |
215 |
15% |
Overall, 15% of auctions were won in the last minute, and
2.9% less than five seconds from the auction end. Note that it does not
automatically follow that sniping software was being used - it is quite
possible to manually bid in the last seconds of an auction. The picture of
bids placed (but not necessarily winning) in the last minute is
slightly different and shows the proxy system at work - sometimes earlier
bids were higher or equal to the last-minute bid, and so took precedence:
|
Seconds Bid Before End |
Number of Items |
% of Total Items |
| 0 |
2 |
0.1% |
| 1 |
29 |
2.1% |
| 2 |
2 |
0.1% |
| 3 |
13 |
0.9% |
| 4 |
4 |
0.3% |
| 5 to 10 |
70 |
5.0% |
| 11 to 20 |
63 |
4.5% |
| 21 to 30 |
33 |
2.3% |
| 31 to 45 |
38 |
2.7% |
| 46 to 60 |
11 |
0.8% |
| TOTAL |
265 |
19% |
The total difference of 50 auctions
represents last minute bids that were foiled by the proxy bidding system -
in other words one in five last-minute bids did not win the auction (50
out of 265).
Learning to snipe
EBay’s proxy bidding system allows you to
set your highest bid and then forget about it. EBay will keep bidding the
minimum increment up to your maximum. This is fine if you know exactly how
much you want to pay for something. If you are not sure how much you want
to bid or if you know an item will be hot, then learn how to snipe at the
last minute. Here is how to snipe:
Open one window with the auction
description. Open a second window and place the highest amount you will
pay for the item and hit “Review Bid.” Now enter your username and
password –but don’t hit “Place Bid” yet. Wait until 15 or 20 seconds
before the auction ends. (Refresh your first window to see the time left).
At the right moment, hit “Place Bid.” With luck your bid will arrive at
the perfect time to beat out your competition.
Be sure to synchronize your time with the
official eBay time or you could just miss the end of an auction.
The bad part of using eBay's proxy bidding on eBay's site is that if you
put in a bid and there is another bidder, it emails them and tells them
that you bid so they have time to go back in and bid again, but if you use
a Sniping service to do the bidding it will wait until the last few
seconds and bid so your chances of getting it is higher.
A lot of people ask me if I know any secrets or tips when it comes to
sniping.
Use the .02 or .03
cent rule.
Most people bid in even numbers. If the bid
increment is 50 cents, make your bid .52 or .53 cents. This way you will
just outbid someone by a few cents instead of a large increment. This is
very important when sniping.
