[Glen A Cleeton]

Sniping and proxy bidding are the way of the world and how auctions may go in one's favor.

I will admit that I hover at the last moment during some auctions, sniping and proxy have won at limits I set. Sniping is somehow despied by some but it is no more than proxy bidding. Ultimately the largest amount you are willing to wager is just that. If someone else betters that value even by a penny, it was your call to set a limit of value. Even snipers get sniped

Two free services I use are Just Snipe and Gixen. Neither really offer any advantage over say Ebay's proxy service except that by cloaking through sniping, your bids on Ebay are not registered until the item closes. I see many proxy bid wars going on openly on Ebay and unless we are probing reserve limits, it makes no sense to advertise the bidding you project in the last seconds. Other sniping services ask a nominal fee and have some advantages such as multiple servers and shorter lead time to closure along with "kick a buck" to beat another high proxy bid. BTW, Ebay encourages proxy bidding and sniping because in the end, the cash flow is what it is all about.

What are other's thoughts on auction bidding and do you have a favorite method or service?

Some online auctions have a system in place to avoid electronic sniping and proxy voting and the auction goes for so many minutes until a last call gets no response.

Poxy bidding and sniping allows me to set my highest value, as well as managing multiple auctions across multiple categories. I am not a daily or weekly buyer/seller/trader but can't fathom even the less active can't benefit from proxy and sniping.

Cheers

GC

[Brian Robson]

I used a sniper a while back - but as you say, if you know your limit and bid at your limit, there's no real need to snipe.

The only reason I could see was for tracking multiple auctions - which to me suggests trying to make money via trading as opposed to simply wanting the goods on offer.

I use ebay very rarely so don't bother with any extra software anymore. It gives me no benefit. I'm also kind of ok with the fact that if people are willing to focus a lot more time/effort on their bids then they should get some better bargains when compared to those who (like me) do it the lazy way and stick a bid on - either I'll win or someone sets a higher bid limit and I won't.