Ebay sniping software

[brianmoooore]

Absolutely mothing to do with electrics, but was wondering if anyone on here knows anything about this kind of thing.
Bought a mini tractor with several attachments off of ebay last night. I placed a single bid 4 seconds from the end of the auction, and was surprised to see my bid accepted at just 65p short of my maximum, at £4465.00. Then was then a strange bit of numbers flashing on my screen, followed not by the usual green "you won this auction" or the red "you didn't win this auction", but by an ebay message saying "we are trying to determine who won this auction". Refreshed the page a few times, and after a minute or so, I got the green "you won" as normal.
Looking at the bid history, the last bid before mine was an automatic one at £4365.00, placed about 35 seconds before mine.
£4465.00 is not an outrageous price for what I've bought, but neither is it the bargain I was hoping for.
The question is, does 'sniping' software exist for seller to use? Something that can somehow probe my maximum bid, then place a bid almost exactly £100 below it, so forcing my bid to my maximum. Software that bids up until it's winning, then retracts the last bid, although no retractions are shown in the bidding history?
Or am I just being paranoid?

 

[mainline]

I buy quite a bit via ebay, but it's the first time I've seen a message like this, and yes, I always set my max at a non round number, and only ever place a single bid in the last couple of seconds. If you've seen this message a few times, then that allays my suspicions a bit.
Sniping software for buyers definitely exists, but I don't think it's fool proof, and I'm sure I've been able to beat it manually on occasions.
I always check whether an item has been listed before. This one had, and I was watching it, but was distracted near the end of the auction and failed to get a bid in. I cheekily contacted the seller, and offered to match the winning bid outside of ebay if the buyer pulled out, which, come the following day, he had, but the seller declined my offer {which was just over a £1000 less than my winning bid now, and would have been a bargain).
I always try to build up some kind of profile of a seller as well, by checking feedback, the kinds of things they've been buying, and what they've been selling. This character doesn't raise any suspicions, and doesn't come over as someone particularly versed in things like specialised 'cheating' software, but you never now.
Anyway, thanks for all the responses. I think the general conclusion is that the software I feared doesn't exist, I am being paranoid, and in this case, I was just unlucky to come up against another idiot who really wanted to win the auction.

I wrote a sidekick program for eBay years ago, I’ll have to find the time to revamp it.

 

[littlespark]

I’ve just started selling on eBay, so looking at anything that might boost what the buyer pays.

Couple of hundred quid so far on spare Lego….. with more to go.

 

[nicebutdim]

I’ve just started selling on eBay, so looking at anything that might boost what the buyer pays.

Couple of hundred quid so far on spare Lego….. with more to go.

If listing as an auction, the most basic requirement is a 2nd buyer who's prepared to pay as much as (or more than) the first.

 

[Julie.]

I use one called snip on ebay as a buyer.

I find it useful as I am an idiot!

I like to leave it towards the end of an auction to bid because often if you bid early it gives time for others to outbid you (and they often get carried away bidding 150% on something that is on buy-it-now @100%).

Unfortunately in doing this I remember just too late, and find it closed 2mins before I remembered!

Using snip (snip.pl) I can set my max bid at the time I see the item, yet bid on ebay within a few seconds of the closure. If I am outbid before time, there is no charge, I think it's around 15 pence a snip(e).

I don't think it makes sense to snipe with last minute bids as a seller , it's far better to start low, and as the bids come in early perhaps ghost bid to increase the price whilst people have time to increase their bids. Of course this could end up with you buying your own item, or getting caught and banned from ebay.

 

[mainline]

No.

This, along with death and taxes, are absolute certainties.

One of the things that they should sort out which is of real concern is allowing 0 rated accounts to list high valued items such as motor homes in the last few days I have reported 5 motor homes that have been listed by scammers who copy pictures etc from auto trader or gumtree and then list them as classified ads at well below their real worth and then collect deposits there was one not so long ago where 5 people turned up at an industrial unit to pick up their motor home each had paid a £1000 deposit.

One of the other things scammers do is say that the item is being sold because the owner has moved abroad, but they will deliver the item and PayPal will hold the money until you are satisfied with the purchase they then send you a false PayPal or other link explaining everything about how the money will be held etc, but it's all false and the money when paid is gone.


eBay now when trying to bid on high value items want proof of who you are with credit card details etc before they allow you to bid, it really doesn't make sense it should be the other way around.


This one here is a scam and still hasn't been taken down even though the real owner has reported it to the police and eBay


eBay item number: 403756789538

 

[DPG]

If you try and push the price of your items by getting friends or family to bid on them the the ebay 'shill bidding' algorithm will detect it and you will get a temporary ban.

 

[DPG]

One of the things that they should sort out which is of real concern is allowing 0 rated accounts to list high valued items such as motor homes in the last few days I have reported 5 motor homes that have been listed by scammers who copy pictures etc from auto trader or gumtree and then list them as classified ads at well below their real worth and then collect deposits there was one not so long ago where 5 people turned up at an industrial unit to pick up their motor home each had paid a £1000 deposit.

One of the other things scammers do is say that the item is being sold because the owner has moved abroad, but they will deliver the item and PayPal will hold the money until you are satisfied with the purchase they then send you a false PayPal or other link explaining everything about how the money will be held etc, but it's all false and the money when paid is gone.


eBay now when trying to bid on high value items want proof of who you are with credit card details etc before they allow you to bid, it really doesn't make sense it should be the other way around.


This one here is a scam and still hasn't been taken down even though the real owner has reported it to the police and eBay


eBay item number: 403756789538

Fully agree on the dodgy sellers. You can generally spot them if they have multiple vehicles listed - every one will have a different house in the background because they've just robbed the pictures from other people!

 

[nicebutdim]

If you try and push the price of your items by getting friends or family to bid on them the the ebay 'shill bidding' algorithm will detect it and you will get a temporary ban.

That scams's been running for years. Quite a few get removed, but ultimately ebay's enforcement of their own policies is woefully inadequate. It's a great place to buy or sell but, after almost 30 years, I don't think any amount of re-branding or advertising will ever shake off their 2nd rate image.

Where they do deserve credit is the protection offered to buyers. Provided they heed ebay's advice about payments for online sales, it's very rare that anyone will be left out of pocket by scammers and that's why scams are now mainly found on the classified section in which less protection is available.

 

[nicebutdim]

Managed to forget about two items that finished this evening, which I'd meant to bid on. Thankfully they both sold for more than I would have paid.

 

[naylorpd]

I used to use sniping software all the time, but the company went under and the alternative deals didn't suit my buying pattern.

At the end of the day, if you decide what is the maximum price you will pay, and submit a regular eBay bid for that amount, you either win (happy, you got it for the price you wanted to pay) or lose (happy, you didn't pay more than you wanted). Admittedly in some auctions I do try to bid in the closing seconds to minimise the risk of another online bidder squeezing another one in, but even doing that you can be whupped by someone who set their maximum bid higher than yours days before.

 

[nicebutdim]

Been amazed to discover that sniping software costs money! Last time I used it was about 20 years ago and they were all free.

 

[LukeD]

Bid once only, max you will pay and do it 6-8 seconds before the auction ends .Check internet connection speeds ! "never ever show your hand" on a high value item with lots of people bidding . I tend to win most things this way .The ones I dont , i just crack on with another auction

 

[brianmoooore]

Bid once only, max you will pay and do it 6-8 seconds before the auction ends .Check internet connection speeds ! "never ever show your hand" on a high value item with lots of people bidding . I tend to win most things this way .The ones I dont , i just crack on with another auction

This is exactly what I do, but more like 3 - 4 seconds from the end, since I've had a reliable and fast (FTP) internet connection for a few years.
I attended many a farm auction in my younger days, and I remember my grandfather telling me "all you need is two idiots for a good sale". Seems, on this occasion, I was one of the two idiots.

 

[LukeD]

Ive seen so many SH items sell for more than you can buy new including delivery.Some people really are dumb

 

[DPG]

Ive seen so many SH items sell for more than you can buy new including delivery.Some people really are dumb

The red mist of auction buyers is amazing sometimes. I've sold over 2000 things on ebay and I still get surprised sometimes!

Mind you, it can work the other way sometimes as well. I've had things which have gone for less than they should have. That's auctions for you.