How Can You Defeat

Ebay Snipers?

If you're bidding for items on eBay, sooner or later you'll end up getting your bid beaten at the very last second by a "sniper". This can be a frustrating experience. In theory sniping is against the rules and you can report it to eBay.  In practice, though, they never do anything about it.

The only way to beat the sniper is to become the sniper. Once you understand sniping, you can use it to win auctions at a far lower price than you would otherwise.

Sniping Manually

If you have a lot of time to spare and a reasonably fast Internet connection, sniping manually isn't difficult. Make a note of the time when each auction you are bidding on will end. Then, make sure you're sitting in front of the page for that vital last minute. You can then outbid the current winning bidder, or defend your own winning bid.

Here's a valuable tip to remember for manual sniping: make sure you set your maximum bid quite high. Otherwise you risk being automatically outbid, and the auction will have ended before you can bid again.

It's not worth your time to compete against someone who is using an automated sniping service. If their service is any good, they will always manage to outbid you. In the sniping arms race, you need to find a sniper of your own.

Sniping In The Age Of Automation

If you enter "ebay sniping" into your favorite search engine, you'll find a long list of online services that will snipe on your behalf for a small fee. They usually offer a free trial, so give it a go.

If you don't want to pay each time for an online service, then you might be better off getting a piece of software like SnipeRight (www.sniperight.com) or ISnipeIt (www.isnipeit.com). You pay once and use them as long as you want.

After you've installed the software on your computer, you tell it which auctions you want sniped and the maximum amount you're willing to pay. The software will then place your bid in the last few seconds of bidding. One drawback to this method is that you need to be able to leave your computer on nearly all the time, or you might miss the end of some auctions.

An Alternative To Sniping

If you're reluctant to lower yourself to "playing dirty", then there is another, more low-tech way to get around sniping. You can just email the seller and say that you were sniped at the last minute, but would really like the item. If they have another to sell, chances are they'll agree to sell it to you for the price at which the auction closed.