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That guy must be fast! Only that guy is
asleep in bed, and an eBay sniper running on his computer outbid you for him.
Not fair. The only way to compete is to use the same advantage of an eBay
sniper. Besides, as you'll read later in this article, it actually makes smart
economic sense to use an eBay sniper.
3 types of eBay bidders
There are basically 3 types of bidders. The
first is the minimum bidder. This is the person that bids the next minimum bid,
and when outbid does the same minimum bid. This only drives up the price of the
item as most bidders like this are not serious about the item.
The second type of bidder is the emotional
bidder. This is the one that keeps outbidding the other person no matter what,
and only cares about winning, no matter how much they are actually paying for
the item. This is great for the seller and eBay(they get final value fees), but
not so great for the buyer, as the price can be triple what the item is worth.
Team this up with the minimum bidder and the prices really skyrocket.
The third type of bidder is the smart bidder.
They use an eBay sniper. They choose the price they feel is the most they are
willing to pay for the item, put that in, and set it and forget it. This way,
there's no bidding war. If the item goes for too much, there will be another
coming along just like it and probably an even better deal.
Why an eBay sniper is the best way to bid
eBay wants you to believe that you should use
their proxy bidding system. While it is true that you can put in your maximum
bid and the program will auto-bid against other bids on your behalf, you don't
want your bid to go in until the final seconds of the auction. Until your snipe
goes in, eBay has no idea you are bidding. Your competitors have no idea you are
bidding. You just swoop in and snipe the item at the last moment. The only way
to lose is if someone else is willing to pay more. If someone is willing to pay
more, no matter what you'll lose, that's just how eBay works. Most people are
either minimum bidders or emotional bidders, though, and against tho you will
win easily. Also something to keep in mind with the final prices. The more an
item sells for, the more eBay gets as it's cut. This is why you won't see on any
of their pages that an eBay sniper is a way to get better deals.
There are even more benefits from using an eBay
sniper. For one, an item is more attractive to other buyers once it has bids. It
must be a bargain or no one would be bidding they are thinking. When an item has
no bids, most people are looking for the reason why nobody is bidding and will
likely not bid for that exact reason. Waiting until the end of the auction to
bid means the item is less likely to gain the attention of other buyers, giving
you a chance at an even better deal.
Another benefit is that you have time to think
over you bid and change your mind if needed. eBay does not look fondly to
retracting bids, and doing it more than once may get your permanently banned
from eBay. You may realize the next day that you really don't need the item, or
that the bid you had in mind is a little more than you want to pay for it. You
can change the bid that will be put in, or even cancel it altogether. You're not
committed to buying the item until just a few seconds before the end of the
auction.
There is more than the type of eBay sniper that
runs on your computer. Some are online ones you sign into on the web and it
snipes for you. For some this is a good move, especially if you are using
dial-up. For others, they don't want a 3rd party to have all of their eBay
information. What if the site gets broken into, someone could go to town and
ruin your eBay account, also making you responsible for any purchases or sales.
For these reasons, many choose to use an eBay sniper that runs off of their own
personal computer, so all the information is self-contained on their own
computer and nobody else has any of their personal information. Add in that
software on your own computer is a one-time cost, and no monthly costs of $5+ a
month, and it's a winning deal. You get better deals, less work, and a more
enjoyable eBay experience. Just a few dollars for a piece of software that can
do all that for you is an incredible deal and should be had by everyone even
semi-serious about eBay.
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