Re: sniper

In <1131197146.485971.41930@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, on 11/05/2005
at 05:25 AM, "acaudle@xxxxxxxx" <acaudle@xxxxxxxx> said:

>gone from eBay now. I understand because it's not easy watching yourself
>lose money. Sniping can be a problem when taken to extremes.

Thanks for the well thought-out reply.

Perhaps I'm bidding on the wrong things? My snipes rarely net be a bargain.
Perhaps this is the difference between market areas.

A short while back I made note of my observations, in a semi-joking counter
to someone who suggested that things on eBay go for "way less than they
should". I questioned "should". Them made the opposite statement. Which
IS my true belief. Way too often I'll find an interesting item and it ends
up selling for way more than it would at a coin show, or from a fixed price
list. If a "more unique" piece comes up, say an R5 bust half that I need,
competition will be fierce, and a last minute sniper is sure to win it at
more than what experience (and the books :) told me it was worth ... and my
snipe fails to register because it was sadly low.

Yet I have an impressive, growing collection of coins, including many R5
bust halves. Some are mouth-watering.

In the auctions in which I tend to participate, there is active bidding and
usually several or more last second snipes. I'm often amoung those, and
while I do sometimes place "wishful thinking" bids (just in case :), I win
some, I lose many with aggressive bid amounts. Sniping seems to work for
the seller in the auctions I see. In my own series of recent auctions,
sniping has boosted bidding way above what I expected in many (but not all)
case. I seem to be getting what things are worth, and pehaps (said shyly
:), a bit more. I guess I'm getting "what I should get" :).

Now. Thinking about your point, I remember this odd little side hobby of
mine - collecting these aztec-like-looking black onyx pieces. I check for
these on eBay regularly, and see one that I want from time to time (can't
say "need", because I have too many of these already. They're cool, but I
often wonder what the hell I'm doing buying more :). Mind you, these are
$3-20 items depending on size and weight. I'm often the only bidder/sniper.
Other times, my snipe will get the item for one bid increment over the only
other (starting) bid. I can't help that there is no competition for these
things. And if I wouldn't have sniped, the item wouldn't have sold or would
have gone for 50 cents or $1 less.

OTOH, some sellers list these pieces with starting bids that are silly. And
they sit on eBay for seemingly ever w/out any interest. The bottom line is,
there is no huge market demand for these pieces. And I'm quite happy with
that.

Admittedly, I know nothing about the crystals you mention. Hmmmm. How
would they look next to my black onyx figurines? :)

Nick
.

Relevant Pages

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  • Re: A Golden Opportunity!
    ... >> Sniping software is available to everybody, ... advantage the sniper has and level the playing field for the buyers? ... You keep on talking about Ebay not being what it is, ... off the bid amount in his own screen. ...
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  • Re: A Golden Opportunity!
    ... > Well, even sans sniping, the eBay auctions are only semi-open. ... > bid of the next-highest bidder. ... at least 1 minute before the final time, you have a 100% chance of ...
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