SAME sniper, same item - multiple services

[Cautious Carl]

Hello Mario and thank you very much for this service. I will be using Gixen tonight for the first time.

Do you know if there is any potential conflict with using more than one snipe software? (The question is whether to also use another free sniping software service, simultaneously.) I know the best way to be safe is to be "live." But I wonder what would happen if one eBay User ID bid - almost simultaneously - from two different sources? (The maximum bid would be the same for both.) Do you think a conflict would occur? Is there some remote chance that the bids would interfere with each other? I know you are not affiliated with eBay, so I am requesting your best educated guess. (In my mind, it would be the same as being on two different computers - let's say your home desktop and your home laptop - and bidding from both just in case one froze or crashed.)

The question is born from a desire to rely on sniping software, but still cover the bases as best as possible. I would just hate to be that 1 in 500.

Thank you again for your time and for this forum.

[mario]

There shouldn't be, except when you use groups.

I wish I could find a reason for you to use exclusively Gixen , however for one item only, all my experience says it's actually good to use more than one service - it's less probable both services will screw up. Unless if there is an ebay issue (like ebay servers down) that will affect both.

For group bids, it's another story - Gixen will think it lost an auction if it doesn't win it itself, so it will not cancel subsequent bids. But if you use group bids, that probably means you can afford to lose one item and you don't need to insure yourself with another service.

Word of caution: be careful who you choose for that other service. Some of them are really bad, e.g. don't use SSL to transmit your ebay username and password (from your browser to them). Pass on those.
Also, some of them, like auctionsniper.com make SSL optional (but it's easy to miss the secure form and use an insecure one). Use "view source" to see where the form is submitted before submitting it (search for "action" in form tag and verify it's "https", not "http").

[Guest]

Thank you for the information and the warnings. I used only Gixen tonight. It worked perfectly. Unfortunately, another sniper came in with a higher bid and won. However, to Gixen's credit, my bid was two seconds after his. I have no complaints and only praise for you - for the attention to the forum, and to the service - which performed exactly as described: My bid was placed 5 seconds before the auction ended. Thank you again.

[CanadianWeasel]

Don't forget that if you get outbid, it doesn't necessarily mean that you've been sniped. eBay has a proxy bidding system, and all bids submitted (excepting "By It Now") are the most you're willing to pay for an item, and ebay will bid on your behalf using the increments are prescribed in the auction list, up to your highest amount. For example; if the bid is $1.00, and you bid $5.00 and the increment is 50 cents, it will be $1.50 on your behalf. What this means in sniping is that if you come in and snipe bid $4.50 for the item as specified above, and someone has a proxy of $5.00, then eBay will bid that user's $5.00 bid, even though they may have put in the bid 3 days ago.

You can generally tell if it's a proxy bid that has won an item if the winning bidder is also listed as having a previous bid.

You may also wish to bid in odd amounts. If you bid $5.01 on an item vs someone who bids $5.00 you will win that auction since ebay will take the highest proxy bid at the end, so long as it's above the incremental amount.

Additionally. If you lose an auction by the minimum bid increment, don't worry that you lost it by only that much. That person's maximum bid may have been quite higher that the bid they won the auction with, but ebay won't bid their maximum bid if a smaller amount will win it for them. You will really never know if you had won an auction had you bid $1.00 or so more.

One of the more useful functions of bid sniping is that you avoid the "auction rush" of trying to bid live. You set your final amount and then walk away. You won't get swept up in the excitement at the last moment and start bidding higher than you should.

Never forget! Pay strict attention to shipping and/or handling costs. Calculate these in your final price (but not final bid). If you buy something for $10 that sells for $15 in the store, but shipping is $10. You're paying $20 for that item!

[Gixen]