Ebay Sniper

[inthemidnighthour]

Who's the ebay sniper who just outbid me onthe vanorak? :evil:

Dave and Lisa

 

[choplee]

Couldn't even find it on fleabag to see if it was one of us or not ... Did it go cheap ..??

 

[CaliforniaDAN]

If you have been sniped the item has been sold and won't be visible on the website

 

[choplee]

With an item number it can be seen still for a longtime after auction ended

 

[beardie]

112 Earth pounds, a bit too much for me (I am not the sniper) when a cali topper can be had for £199

 

[choplee]

112 Earth pounds, a bit too much for me (I am not the sniper) when a cali topper can be had for £199

The Vanorak rrp was £299 ,so not a bad deal really ... But if you have the extra then the cozi & topper are £199 ..

 

[Bjohnson]

i was watching it, it jumped in price in the last 5 seconds!

 

[beardie]

112 Earth pounds, a bit too much for me (I am not the sniper) when a cali topper can be had for £199

The Vanarak rrp was £299 ,so not a bad deal really ... But if you have the extra then the cozi & topper are £199 ..

Given the supplier seems to have gone out of business and therefore no guarantee, I thought it was a bit of a risk for second hand .....

 

[choplee]

112 Earth pounds, a bit too much for me (I am not the sniper) when a cali topper can be had for £199

The Vanarak rrp was £299 ,so not a bad deal really ... But if you have the extra then the cozi & topper are £199 ..

Given the supplier seems to have gone out of business and therefore no guarantee, I thought it was a bit of a risk for second hand .....

I have a used one and not planning on using it that much to honest ,so the money I save on accessories I don't use that much I can spend on more useful things ( unless the pockets are full) ..
I have some repair fabric from the company that made the vanarak ,as they make nice car covers just in case and they told me how to repair if needed ,so wasn't all bad ...
It all depends on use ,money as we know they are different prices and made from different materials which give slightly varied results on putting them on how they fix and weather resistant qualities .....
Overall I think they all do a good enough job

 

[Calincolnshire]

I was watching it as well but just for interest as I bought one of the first Calitoppers .


P.S I hate snipers.

 

[2into1]

I'm afraid that anyone who bids on ebay BEFORE the last 5 seconds simply hasn't given enough thought to how ebay works and how buyers behave. They are just costing themselves money.

I compete against trade buyers routinely on ebay. For a good item, it just comes down to a shoot-out in the last 5 seconds. What has happened in the previous 6 days, 23hrs, 59mins and 55 seconds is of no relevance. If private buyers are basing their bid on the auction price with 10 seconds to go, they haven't got a chance.

There are free sniping services out there if you want to use them, although the free ones tend to place the bid at 8 seconds which still gives others time to react.

 

[Andy]

There are free sniping services out there if you want to use them, although the free ones tend to place the bid at 8 seconds which still gives others time to react.

Also free sniping programs available that will bid up to the penultimate second if you so wish.

 

[2into1]

At the risk of going to deep into this, which free snipe can go so late Andy?

 

[choplee]

Most of my eBay purchases are buy it now and have noticed I can buy a lot of items from online shops for the same price and in cases cheaper.. It's not like it used to be and had my fair share of twats and cons in the past ...lol

 

[Andy]

At the risk of going to deep into this, which free snipe can go so late Andy?

Jbidwatcher which is a java based program.
http://www.jbidwatcher.com/

 

[2into1]

Thanks Andy.
I notice is does recommend a bid at 7-10 seconds for a 'fast connection', otherwise 20-30 seconds.
I use auctionstealer.co.uk which I can manage from my smartphone. They offer free bids, but charge for the later (closer to the wire) bids. I generally use their 3 second option, which if you investigate later, seems to place at 4 or 5 seconds to the end, which is fine.
I can 'set and forget' and just get an email to say if I've won or not....so it works when I'm half way up a mountain.

The FAQs for Andy's link does explain very well why sniping is the most cost effective method of bidding (see FAQ no 5). I've glad they've explained it as I feared I may have to!

@Choplee: I agree for many items. I always check amazon for out of print books before bidding in an ebay auction. However most of the things I buy are one-off's, requiring restoration, most of which are in the auction format.

The smart and knowledgeable sellers use 'Buy it now or make me an offer' format, which works well as it only needs one person to really want the item in order to achieve a good price, whereas an auction needs at least two.