Sniping is the term used for bidding on an item just before the auction closes
Bid Late, Bid Once, Bid Your Max
- Introduction
-
For sniping to be possible / useful the auction needs to have a fixed end time,
this allows the sniper to bid in the last few seconds and leaves other bidders
unable to respond.
The, now closed, Yahoo auctions had an option which allowed the seller to decide if the end
of the auction was fixed or not. If not bids in the last few minutes of the auction extended
the end of the auction, while there were still bids coming in the auction end would carry on
extending.
eBay on the other hand has fixed end times.
- Why Snipe
-
The primary aim when sniping is to give other bidders no chance to respond to your bid.
But you will also have no chance to bid again if you do not beat the current winners proxy
so you need to bid your maximum.
- How to Snipe
-
You can either snipe Manually, With Sniping Software on your PC or via a Sniping Web Site. I will
look at all 3 methods
- Manually -
- If you are on a dial up Internet connection which times out every few hours check that it
will not be timing out when you are about to place your bid.
- Open the item you are going to snipe on in 2 browser windows,
- Enter your bid into
the box in the first window (ensuring that you enter the correct value)
- Press Review Bid,
- Enter your password in the box.
- Switch windows and refresh, press F5
- Keep refreshing periodically until there are only a few seconds of the
auction left (about 10 if you are new to sniping)
- Switch back to the first window and press the place your bid button.
- Switch back to the first window and refresh
again,
- you should see that your bid has been placed,
if your maximum was higher then the previous winners proxy you should now see that you have won
the auction and depending on how near the end of the auction you placed your bid the auction
may have ended otherwise refresh again.
- Sniping Software - There are programs available which will automatically snipe
for you saving you the effort
- Sniping Web Sites - If the auction ends at a time when you are unable to bid manually or with
a program on your PC there are web sites which will snipe for you, most have a basic, free, service
and charge a fee for extra features like remembering lots of snipes, sniping at the very last moment,
placing a number of items into a group and bidding on each one until you win one.
Use of a sniping web site involves registering with them and they will need your auction user-id and
password to be able to bid on your behalf. Those listed below are some of the more widely used
sites available.
Before giving other sites these details it would be worth checking
the validity of the site on the
discussion boards.
- Being Sniped
-
Being sniped for the first time usually happens when a buyer is relativly new and usually comes as
a complete surprise. Depending on the popularity of the items being sought by the buyer they may
get sniped repeatedly and will either learn to do it themselves or will leave disheartened.
If as a seller you do not like snipers I would recommend that you finish any auctions early,
once they have reached a price you are satisfied with.
- Power Sniper Logo
-
Here is a sniping logo you might want to use
<img src="http://ukauctionhelp.co.uk/image.php?i=psnipe">
Useful Links
If you use the Images above in Item Descriptions, on  pages etc
please add this link to the page
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Your Comments / Thoughts / Additions / Corrections etc 
