Sniping

[Chris Trask]

Milton Ferguson wrote:
>
>    I expect that eBay will soon institute changes similar to other
> auction sites to combat sniping:
>
>    If a bid is received within the last minute, the auction period is
> automatically extended to allow counterbids.
>

        I would hope not.  Everyone who has placed a bid up to the end of the
auction has bid up to the amount that they feel the item is worth.
Sniping is a way of preventing bidding wars, where items are bid well
beyond their actual value.

        I am a well experienced sniper with over three years experience, and I
can tell you that there are a number of items which show up from time to
time that, if such a rule were to be implemented, would rise to
astronomical prices.  Not that the seller would mind, but those of us
who are trying to put together collections of magazines and journals
certainly would.  There are people out there who do not have any self
discipline when it comes to auctions, both online and live.  I learned
many years ago how to psych out people at live auctions, and most of it
has to do with seeing who is fading out as the bidding progresses.  You
can often scare the daylights out of a hesitant bidder if you enter in
as "new blood" just before the hammer falls.  And that's what sniping is
all about.

        Every once in a while I run into a piece of test equipment or a
professional journal where the bidding has already gone into the war
stage well before the close.  Look at the prices that some pieces of
Hewlett Packard or Ailtech equipment garner, and you'll see what I
mean.  An Ailtech noise source can be over $300 days before the bidding
closes.

Chris


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