Save Time and Money by Using Snipe on eBay

How many times have you lost auctions on eBay at the last possible second?

You were there early before the auction closed with a high bid, feeling good.  Then the clock hits 1 minute, and you were still on top, (hey, this is looking good you think).  Maybe even a few bidders put in a couple bids, but you are still the winning bidder (so far so good).

Then as the auction clock hits 10 seconds your heart starts to race (it is almost in your grasp), however as the clock ticks down and the auction closes  you are met with disappointment and a feeling of loss (you see that the winning bidder is in fact not you).  You lost the auction and more importantly wasted a lot of your time and energy for nothing.  Why or how do these other bidders get their bid in at the last minute and steal the item away from other bidders?  Well, they are using auction software and buyer tools and you should too.

You see, I was playing the bidding game too, which sellers absolutely love because live bidders drive up the price on items.  However, getting in a bidding war means that you have to actually be online and monitoring the auction.  It also means that you have to “show your hand” (meaning once you are outbid you have to get back into the bidding war and increase your bid).

For years I was reluctant to use a snipe service to win auctions on eBay.  I guess I didn’t trust it or maybe I thought it was cheating.  The fact is though once I did try it I was hooked.  Snipe services like justsnipe.com give you (the buyer) the opportunity to place your bid at the last possible second.

What you will do is give the auction snipe tool the highest price you want to pay for the item.  As the auction winds down to the last 5-10 seconds the snipe tool will execute (send) in your highest bid for you automatically (and best the current highest bid).

Let’s look at an example.  I recently purchased a 2009 Felt Tk3 track frame on eBay using a snipe tool.  With a couple of days left to go in the auction the price of the frame was up to about $150.00, with a few bidders already placing bids. In the old days I would have jumped in on the bidding auction.  However, now instead of putting in my high bid early and possibly triggering a bidding war (thus driving up the price), I use snipe tools.  So with a day to go in the auction for the bike frame I went to my justsnipe account and entered the highest amount that I was willing to pay for the item.  I entered $355.00 as my top price into the snipe software and sat back.

This time I was not the poor guy on eBay who had watched the auction for a week, gleefully thinking he was the one who would be soon opening a large box and putting together his new fixed gear bike.   No, this time I won the auction and even got the Felt frame well below my $355.00 cap, I got it at $249.00.

There are many snipe services out there that eBay buyers can use for free.  Many of the snipe websites give you a few free snipes per week, with fewer options than a paying member would have, such as not being able to adjust your snipe order at less than 8 seconds to go in the auction.  It is really worth a try though, and so far I have had no problems winning auctions with a free snipe account and my snipes coming in with 8 seconds to go, it is simply not enough time for a live bidder to react and submit another bid.  Happy bidding.