At 04:57 AM 12/31/2003 +0000, scapin-dmk@att.net ushered forth:
>Ebay requires some finesse to do the last minute buying. It ain't unfair
>(sniping) and anyone can do it. I have gotten a lot of my good deals in the
>last few seconds. One can always bid the maximum up to be sure that you get
>the part that you want to go higher than the next sniper.
I place a bid equal to the maximum I'm willing to pay, sometime during the course of the auction, and I get a lot of good deals too. I tend to spend a lot of time determining the suitability and condition of the item I'm bidding on because I place a lot more value on getting my money's worth than I do on getting the lowest possible price.
Yes, I get outbid by one notch on occasion. That's okay, that's one notch more than I was willing to pay. I don't feel 'taken' or 'robbed' or 'beaten' or 'sniped'. Sometimes I get outbid by a large margin, and that's okay too.
This closely mimics what I do at live auctions; I determine the condition of the item, how much I'm willing to pay for it, and bid until I'm either outbid or win the item.
So bid once and be done with it! No need to pay a sniper fee on top of all the others.
Regards, Dave Baseley, an eBay buyer -and- seller in Berks County PA