Solitary chicken - need advice

[Aunty e]

I'm really getting sick and tired of snipers. I've been bidding on various bits and pieces over the last week, and on almost every one, I've been sniped at 3 or 4 seconds before the end. I can't bid that close to the end of an auction in case my computer takes a few extra seconds to load. It's so irritating and just seems unfair somehow.

 

Anyway, moan over, it just makes me mad and want to not bother with ebay anymore.

[Cinnamon]

Yes but if you put your bid in at the maximum you want to pay,even if you are sniped & its under that maximum,you will still win.

It will still go up in small increaments, so your bid will not suddenly jump up to your max,unless someone is bidding against you.

 

Sorry but to do this is the most sensible way to bid.If it goes over what you are willing to pay anyhow,then its no loss

[jess]

Yeah I steer clear of ebay to be honest the adrenaline surge does me no good. I think you are best off just saying what your max price is and then leaving it.

[Cinnamon]

I ought to mention that I never bid anymore.

I have sniped for a good 2 years now, & I don't think I have lost an auction yet

[AnnieP]

I auction snipe too. It means that you put your maximum in, and walk away, am never tempted to "just increase it a littel bit more" and I can get on with my life without having to worry about end times and being online to watch.

[Aunty e]

On small things, I just put in my maximum bid and ignore the auction until it closes, but the earlier you bid on large stuff, the higher the prices go so I tend to see how it goes, and wait until the last hour or so. I like to have the option of thinking 'oh actually, I would pay £20 more for that'. Sniping means I don't get that option, because the higher bid goes in 3 seconds before the auction closes. Sorry, still just don't agree with it, I'm sure there have been plenty of times when people have tried and failed to snipe because I've had a higher maximum bid, it just seems like I've been the loser for the last couple of weeks. Maybe I'll stick to Gumtree.

[Chucky Mama]

I place my maximum bid, not the next highest bid but my maximum bid (always put a non rounded number in e.g £20.09) about 8 seconds before the end of bidding. I rarely loose

[craftyhunnypie]

I'm a sniper too sometimes - or if not, I always put a proxy bid on to my maximum. It depends on the item & how long it has left, as sometimes you get people bidding to find out how much you've left on it & it then pushes the price up to your maximum - little devils!

I do very often use buy it now these days & I love using best offer - you usually get things a bit cheaper than the asking price.

 

Emma.x

[Lewis]

I don't use sniper, I use it myself at the last few seconds.

 

I agree I like to see if I'll add another few £ and think its a bit fairer.

[Aunty e]

I much prefer Buy It Now actually, and will often happily pay a bit more just to avoid the stress of an auction! Just bought a chest of drawers on Gumtree for slightly more than I would have paid on ebay, but it's just so much nicer to ring someone up and arrange to collect with no 'will I, won't I' about it.

 

Anyway, calmed down now and have just put an automatic search on ebay to prevent the obsessive checking ten times a day for what I want. I have a month to find one, it's not a big deal.