# Shill bidding on Obay



## peterbilt379 (Jan 4, 2013)

How can you detected shill bidding on Evilbay?


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

If it is done well I am not sure you can.


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## peterbilt379 (Jan 4, 2013)

OOPs. I quess I shouldn't say Obey or Evilbay. Got kicked off of ORG for saying that!


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## bigdodgetrain (Jun 12, 2015)

the mods are a little more forgiving here.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Try eBay....that’s the actual name..... 😉


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## beachhead2 (Oct 31, 2017)

The best way to detect shill bidding is by investigating the bid history. On the item page, click on the bid number. You'll see a page like this:











Now you can click on individual bidders and see their bid profile. Like this:










Do you see the line where it says "Bid Activity (%) with this seller"? Usually if there is shilling going on, this will be 100%, _and _there will be bid retractions. 

Usually if a seller sets up a dummy account, all of his activity will be with the same seller (himself). He'll have retractions because he's pulling back bids to make sure he doesn't win the auctions. I haven't seen much shilling in O Gauge trains. It's pervasive in another hobby of mine, sports memorabilia.


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## Streamliner (Feb 21, 2021)

peterbilt379 said:


> OOPs. I quess I shouldn't say Obey or Evilbay. Got kicked off of ORG for saying that!


Yeah, I got kicked off OGR as well. Bunch of self important little dictators running that site, thinking they are big men! How sad. Model trains are supposed to be FUN! Anyone who takes the hobby too seriously, needs to find another hobby.


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## Madman (Aug 22, 2020)

Streamliner said:


> Yeah,* I got kicked off OGR as well*. Bunch of self important little dictators running that site, thinking they are big men! How sad. Model trains are supposed to be FUN! Anyone who takes the hobby too seriously, needs to find another hobby.


So you're a member of that club too ?.....


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## Krieglok (Sep 7, 2013)

You used to be able to look at any user’s bidding history...what they bid on, how many times and if they won or not.

I caught a couple shills that way years ago. Now eBay has eliminated that option due to privacy concerns. It mainly serves to cover up people’s bad behavior.

Tom


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## Bryan Moran (Jan 15, 2017)

That's one reason I just bid what I think it is worth and stick with it. Also, ebay is 99% Buy It Now and/or take it or leave it so not sure how much shilling can go on.


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## peterbilt379 (Jan 4, 2013)

Beachhead2: I do go to that page and notice the percentages/bid retractions. I thought it was darn funny someone would have that high percentage & retraction for 1 seller. Week ago same thing happened. I quit bidding near the end. It went for a ridiculous price .Automatic bidding. Three days later it was relisted by the buyer but had the same pictures and same description! Whats wrong with that picture. Looks like to me he bought his own PW car then relisted it. Gotta be loosing money trying to cheat like that.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

peterbilt379 said:


> Beachhead2: I do go to that page and notice the percentages/bid retractions. I thought it was darn funny someone would have that high percentage & retraction for 1 seller. Week ago same thing happened. I quit bidding near the end. It went for a ridiculous price .Automatic bidding. Three days later it was relisted by the buyer but had the same pictures and same description! Whats wrong with that picture. Looks like to me he bought his own PW car then relisted it. Gotta be loosing money trying to cheat like that.


Report it, tell them to keep an eye on him.


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## Kelpieflyer (Jan 9, 2012)

Bryan Moran said:


> That's one reason I just bid what I think it is worth and stick with it. Also, ebay is 99% Buy It Now and/or take it or leave it so not sure how much shilling can go on.


I've been doing this for years after I heard a couple of sellers at a train show talking about how they have their friends bid up the price if they don't get what they want. I rarely win any auctions because I bid and include the shipping cost. Usually win one out of 15 at best.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I just put the max price I'm willing to pay in my sniping program and then wait to see if I win the auction. Most of the time I don't as I'm a cheapskate, but when I do win, I'm happy with the price.


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## Bryan Moran (Jan 15, 2017)

Yep we last 3 are doing it the only good way. I don't win much either.


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## peterbilt379 (Jan 4, 2013)

I agree. I like the "by now" price deal or" best offer." Alot of times the seller will take 15/20% off "buy now" price for a best offer. Hard to get a fair auction.


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## Bryan Moran (Jan 15, 2017)

My recent experience with ebay is that I am seeing very few new - meaning old new - items in my daily searches. Just the same old stuff.


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## Billy 2 Wolves (May 22, 2018)

Bryan Moran said:


> My recent experience with ebay is that I am seeing very few new - meaning old new - items in my daily searches. Just the same old stuff.


 I've noticed the same listed several time over several pages on ebay. And usually at different prices.


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## RichSamuel (Aug 6, 2020)

beachhead2 said:


> The best way to detect shill bidding is by investigating the bid history. On the item page, click on the bid number. You'll see a page like this:
> 
> View attachment 555866
> 
> ...


eBay is a cesspool for sports memorabilia.


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## grm1227 (Jul 8, 2019)

peterbilt379 said:


> OOPs. I quess I shouldn't say Obey or Evilbay. Got kicked off of ORG for saying that!


what is ORG ?


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## towdog (Oct 2, 2015)

I don't know if anyone was watching the price of the Legacy Polar Express Berkshire engines over the holidays, but several "sold" for up to 10K, I believe. I can guarantee that none of those were actually bought and transferred hands. There is supply and demand prices and then there are prices obviously at a point because the seller was trying to get someone to bite at that insane price.


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## peterbilt379 (Jan 4, 2013)

E? bay is a cesspool period. Scams/fraud/ Really have to be on your toes and know your stuff. ORG misprint meant OGR
O Gauge Railroad forum. Bunch of thin-skin cry babies. Got all P/O about my american flag in my pic!


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## beachhead2 (Oct 31, 2017)

grm1227 said:


> what is ORG ?


Typo.  He meant OGR as in the OGR forum. *you beat me to it.


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## x_doug_x (Jun 21, 2010)

towdog said:


> I don't know if anyone was watching the price of the Legacy Polar Express Berkshire engines over the holidays, but several "sold" for up to 10K, I believe. I can guarantee that none of those were actually bought and transferred hands. There is supply and demand prices and then there are prices obviously at a point because the seller was trying to get someone to bite at that insane price.


I would say they prob. did sell, the fees someone would have to pay on their own items at that price are rediculous.


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## Streamliner (Feb 21, 2021)

grm1227 said:


> what is ORG ?


It‘s OGR, which is short for O Gauge Railroading Online Forum. It is run by O Gauge Railroading magazine.


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## Streamliner (Feb 21, 2021)

RichSamuel said:


> eBay is a cesspool for sports memorabilia.


I guess you could say that about most any category. Since I have zero interest in sports memorabilia, I have never seen any of it on eBay. Again I will say that eBay is a fantastic, very useful and helpful tool, you just need to know the rules, be careful and be diligent. Honestly, we have no idea how lucky we are that eBay exists. No, I don’t own any eBay stock.


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## peterbilt379 (Jan 4, 2013)

Untill they came around train shows were great. You could make great deals and had alot of choices. I feel they ruined train shows. Now train shows around here not worth going to. Theres alot of high priced junk!..JMHO


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## Jetguy (Mar 22, 2019)

grm1227 said:


> what is ORG ?


The other forum that is run by the magazine the has the letters ORG in the name about O trains, not in that order.


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## Streamliner (Feb 21, 2021)

peterbilt379 said:


> Untill they came around train shows were great. You could make great deals and had alot of choices. I feel they ruined train shows. Now train shows around here not worth going to. Theres alot of high priced junk!..JMHO


Well, if I had my way about it, computers would still take up huge rooms and only the government, health care and some big businesses would have them. There would be no frigging internet, no email, no websites. When you would go into a store to buy something, the clerk would take out a pad with a carbon and hand write you a receipt. It would still be an adventure and great fun to go into different toy & hobby shops across the country to see what treasures they might have lurking behind the counter. 

To take this a step further, people would respect laws, public and private property. People would take pride in what they did for a living and would try to do their best, no matter what job they had. There would be civility, politeness and when someone broke the law, they would be properly punished—quickly.

I realize that I am painting a picture similar to the “Pleasantville” movie or maybe as life would have been in “Plasticville,” but in so many ways, it was SO much closer to this in pre-computer/internet times than it is today. I realize that many things today, such as health care, medicine, vehicle safety are much improved today, but I don’t care. If I could “click my heels” and return to 1958, I’d do it in a second.

Unfortunately, there is no going back. We are stuck in the here & now. The most dominant marketplace for our hobby is eBay. I don’t like it, but I’m realistic and so, I’ve embraced it. 

Hope you are all doing well,

Allen Drucker


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## Streamliner (Feb 21, 2021)

peterbilt379 said:


> ..................O Gauge Railroad forum. Bunch of thin-skin cry babies. Got all P/O about my american flag in my pic!


Yeah, at OGR, they wouldn’t let me use the avatar I use here, a photo of my old store, where I used to sell their frigging magazines! It MUST be a “recognizable“ photo of yourself. I told them that I didn’t want to see pictures of a bunch of old men, but they wouldn’t even answer me. It’s like Germany in the late 1930’s over there.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

peterbilt379 said:


> Untill they came around train shows were great. You could make great deals and had alot of choices. I feel they ruined train shows. Now train shows around here not worth going to. Theres alot of high priced junk!..JMHO


I find there’s a lot of high priced junk on eBay as well these days.....🤨


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## Streamliner (Feb 21, 2021)

Old_Hobo said:


> I find there’s a lot of high priced junk on eBay as well these days.....🤨


Under “Athearn” alone, there are currently over 32,000 listings. Bound to be a lot of junk, a lot of parts and a lot of pretty nice items.


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## ERIE610 (Jan 19, 2015)

Browsing on eBay is free so far. What would be junk to one guy maybe a much needed treasure to someone else. One has to be very decisive when shopping on eBay. If the object up for bid is something you absolutely need and is not readily available anywhere else then by all means bid on the object. Just remember to bid judiciously. Know your $$$ limit and do not forget to include shipping and sales tax costs in your $$$ limit. I will agree that the amount of O-Gauge items has dwindled down a bit. There are probably a Plethora of reasons for the Dwindling Down but that should be reserved for another discussion IMHO.


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## PJB (Dec 31, 2016)

Streamliner said:


> Yeah, I got kicked off OGR as well. Bunch of self important little dictators running that site, thinking they are big men! How sad. Model trains are supposed to be FUN! Anyone who takes the hobby too seriously, needs to find another hobby.



OGR: I think "adman" who took over a few years back is a bit of a fascist. Discussion seems diligently censored to suit his agenda. Yet he promotes it as a forum. "Forum = "a place, meeting, or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged." What a travesty. Can't wait till someone who lives in the 21st century takes over.

The 'bay: I have been buying and selling for over 22 years there. Some of the advice in this thread on shills is spot on.

I must say, however, that I personally haven't really seen much shill bidding in the O Scale auctions - at least the stuff on which I bid. If there's shilling, don't think its rampant. One factor is O Scale is a different kind of hobby than some others, at least in my experience. Many things don't appreciate in value and everyone is looking for a bargain. Compare that to another of my hobbies - collecting vintage comic books. Many comic books are volatile in the marketplace and often sell for many multiples of book value.

My point: people auctioning many mainstream comic books can be more opportunist given the market is so volatile. In our hobby, many items rarely hammer for even NIB prices, so shill bidding is a lot more risky and the potential reward doesn't necessarily offset the risks. Overall, I think this is a good thing as it keeps things more honest.

Peter


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## Billy 2 Wolves (May 22, 2018)

Streamliner said:


> It‘s OGR, which is short for O Gauge Railroading Online Forum. It is run by O Gauge Railroading magazine.


would there happen to be an _HO Gage Railroad Online Forum_ or an _HO Gage Railroading _magazine ?


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## Desperado (Mar 14, 2021)

I have spent a lot of time on ebay recently. I have bought several things and noticed I was buying from the same place mostly - end up being Trainz.com out of Buford, Georgia. I finally just went to their website instead. I think ebay is great just to see what's out there - educational - but otherwise you need to be careful of everything mentioned earlier.


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## Millstonemike (Aug 9, 2018)

For those knowledgeable of Sports Memorabilia, it's reached new heights... 

In the 1993 movie "The Sandlot" the story line had real baseballs signed by Babe Ruth and the Murders Row Yankee team. Some how a "Digitally" signed, "Virtual" card doesn't do it for me.

What were the names of the games of skill and chance we played betting with our baseball cards?


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## peterbilt379 (Jan 4, 2013)

Greed!!


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Hard to put those in the spokes of my bike.....😄


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## Matt_GNo27 (Feb 7, 2016)

peterbilt379 said:


> E? bay is a cesspool period. Scams/fraud/ Really have to be on your toes and know your stuff.


I agree that you always want to carefully scrutinize a listing and do your research, however, my experience buying model trains and other items on Ebay has been excellent. Most of my rolling stock, including several locomotives, was purchased on Ebay.

If you are bidding on items, then you should be using sniping software.


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## beachhead2 (Oct 31, 2017)

Matt_GNo27 said:


> If you are bidding on items, then you should be using sniping software.


I used GavelSnipe for years but they're shutting down. Which snipe service are you using?


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## Billy 2 Wolves (May 22, 2018)

Desperado said:


> I have spent a lot of time on ebay recently. I have bought several things and noticed I was buying from the same place mostly - end up being Trainz.com out of Buford, Georgia. I finally just went to their website instead. I think ebay is great just to see what's out there - educational - but otherwise you need to be careful of everything mentioned earlier.


so were you purchasing from TRAINZ itself or some 3rd party who was add on his porffit


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## beachhead2 (Oct 31, 2017)

Trainz sells on eBay.


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## Desperado (Mar 14, 2021)

Billy 2 Wolves said:


> so were you purchasing from TRAINZ itself or some 3rd party who was add on his porffit


So I was buying/bidding on ebay and noticed that the seller was Trainz. First item I bought did not think much of it. Second item I thought "wow this "person" has a lot of interesting stuff". Third item I saw they had an "ebay store". After that I googled the name and location and saw they were an actual retail store in Georgia (has their own website). So after that I just went to their website to search for things. Prices on their website were about $1 to $5 cheaper than the ebay listing of the same item. Perhaps I am "slow" but my method of buying was really focused on ebay - until now. Now I am buying from a store; Stockyard Express in Oberlin, Ohio (about 30 minutes from me) and from Tranz on line. I will still look at ebay though - because you never know what can come out of someone's attic.


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## Matt_GNo27 (Feb 7, 2016)

beachhead2 said:


> I used GavelSnipe for years but they're shutting down. Which snipe service are you using?


Myibidder


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

I don't use snip[iong sopftare. I only bid when I _really _want theitem and bid about 2X to 3X times what I think it would possibly go for: I big on an old Marx tinplate car I needed badly, that bidding history said would go for about $360. I bid $900 and went to sleep and didn't worry. Got it for about $400. Not doubt someone snipped at the end but it didn't matter. You can only use this method if you really must have the item, but that is the only time I ever bid: I can't find the item on buy now and really, really want it. If you bid that high you get it for the bidding system increment over the next highest bid. I only bid when I REALLY want the item but so far it has not failed me. Never lost a bid and never paid a totally ridiculous price. Sometimes high, but then, I really wanted the item.


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## peterbilt379 (Jan 4, 2013)

Wow Lee; Wonder what would happen if another bidder did the same? Say they bid $850, you would be stuck for $851 for a piece worth $360! That takes a pair! lol IMHO 
l


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## Matt_GNo27 (Feb 7, 2016)

Lee's strategy is an effective one. Obviously that car was worth more than $360 to Lee. The dirtbag, er, frugal Yankee in me generally aims to spend $40 or less on a piece of rolling stock, excluding locomotives. (I mostly now run scale 40'-50' cars on O-27.) If it's more than $50, I've got to make a good case to myself, but usually it would have to be a relatively rare item. If it is not a "buy it now" item, sniping software helps to keep the price down. If I lose the auction, so be it.


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## Desperado (Mar 14, 2021)

peterbilt379 said:


> Wow Lee; Wonder what would happen if another bidder did the same? Say they bid $850, you would be stuck for $851 for a piece worth $360! That takes a pair! lol IMHO
> l


Ebay is actually pretty slick when it comes to that. All the bids are time stamped. So who ever bid first wins. Say the item is at 10.00 right now. You put a max bid in at 100.00. If some else comes along and also bids 100, yours is the one that would win. Even if you put in a max of 100, the item would go to 10.25, and keep rising automatically as more people try to bid more than that. You remain the winner up to your max bid.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Lee Willis said:


> I don't use snip[iong sopftare. I only bid when I _really _want theitem and bid about 2X to 3X times what I think it would possibly go for: I big on an old Marx tinplate car I needed badly, that bidding history said would go for about $360. I bid $900 and went to sleep and didn't worry. Got it for about $400. Not doubt someone snipped at the end but it didn't matter. You can only use this method if you really must have the item, but that is the only time I ever bid: I can't find the item on buy now and really, really want it. If you bid that high you get it for the bidding system increment over the next highest bid. I only bid when I REALLY want the item but so far it has not failed me. Never lost a bid and never paid a totally ridiculous price. Sometimes high, but then, I really wanted the item.


When money is no object, you can win virtually any auction, sadly that's not my situation.


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## peterbilt379 (Jan 4, 2013)

Desperado said:


> Ebay is actually pretty slick when it comes to that. All the bids are time stamped. So who ever bid first wins. Say the item is at 10.00 right now. You put a max bid in at 100.00. If some else comes along and also bids 100, yours is the one that would win. Even if you put in a max of 100, the item would go to 10.25, and keep rising automatically as more people try to bid more than that. You remain the winner up to your max bid.


Thats pretty slick. I didnt know that. A good freind of mine bids like that. I always wondered if he would get stuck with a outlandish bid. I see him bid a grand the other night on a cherry PW 2343AA set. The original bid started at $199.99. He got it for $229. Smoking deal! "Now I see" said the blind man!! Still takes a pair I think. lol


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## Matt_GNo27 (Feb 7, 2016)

peterbilt379 said:


> Thats pretty slick. I didnt know that. A good freind of mine bids like that. I always wondered if he would get stuck with a outlandish bid. I see him bid a grand the other night on a cherry PW 2343AA set. The original bid started at $199.99. He got it for $229. Smoking deal! "Now I see" said the blind man!! Still takes a pair I think. lol


The advantage to sniping software is that you still get the "max bid" feature, but no one else has the time to respond to your bid as your bid is placed seconds before the auction ends. You can still lose if someone has a higher max bid, but in theory your max bid should be the most you are willing to pay, so you would have lost regardless.


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## beachhead2 (Oct 31, 2017)

Yep. And it's free. So, why not?


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## Desperado (Mar 14, 2021)

peterbilt379 said:


> Thats pretty slick. I didnt know that. A good freind of mine bids like that. I always wondered if he would get stuck with a outlandish bid. I see him bid a grand the other night on a cherry PW 2343AA set. The original bid started at $199.99. He got it for $229. Smoking deal! "Now I see" said the blind man!! Still takes a pair I think. lol


My experience has shown that it gets to be a game - which I don't like. Most listings are out there for 6 to 7 days - very long time. I would recommend NOT bidding until the last day - last few seconds really. Put the item on your "watch" list and then wait and see. I was bidding not long ago on a new in box New York Central loco. I believe it was Lionel manufactured late 80's I think. I was winning all week - felt pretty good. Then the price jumped over $100 in the last 10 seconds and I lost. I was actually fine with that - I did not want it at the final selling price. But you can get into trouble if you get into a bidding war for ego sake. You can get stuck paying way too much for something - buyers remorse hits pretty quick on that.


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## peterbilt379 (Jan 4, 2013)

Wondering which method works the best. Lee's way or waiting till the last few seconds and bid a really crazy number.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Well, Lee's method is an almost certain winner, but since I am not willing to bid unlimited bucks, I use my sniping method and just put in a number that I can live with. I don't see very many "must have" items, so that works for me.


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## Matt_GNo27 (Feb 7, 2016)

Desperado said:


> I would recommend NOT bidding until the last day - last few seconds really.


My apologies for beating a dead horse, but this is exactly what a sniping program does for you and you don't have to wait around for the end of the auction. The software places the bid for you, and it will place the smallest bid necessary up to the amount of your pre-selected maximum bid.


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## Kelpieflyer (Jan 9, 2012)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> When money is no object, you can win virtually any auction, sadly that's not my situation.


Mine too


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Matt_GNo27 said:


> My apologies for beating a dead horse, but this is exactly what a sniping program does for you and you don't have to wait around for the end of the auction. The software places the bid for you, and it will place the smallest bid necessary up to the amount of your pre-selected maximum bid.


Actually, the sniping program just places your maximum bid a few seconds before the auction ends, it doesn't try to place multiple increments. If you snipe at $200, that bid will go in at the wire.


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## Matt_GNo27 (Feb 7, 2016)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> Actually, the sniping program just places your maximum bid a few seconds before the auction ends, it doesn't try to place multiple increments. If you snipe at $200, that bid will go in at the wire.


GRJ, unless I am misunderstanding you, that is different than the way Myibidder works. You enter in your max bid into Myibidder, but it will snipe at the lowest amount possible.

Let's say I want to snipe on a boxcar. In the Myibidder app I would enter in my max bid, let's say $40 and set the snipe for 3 seconds before the auction ends. The visible high bid by UserX is sitting at $17.50 as the end of the auction approaches. At three seconds Myibidder snipes with an autobid of $18, or whatever the next increment up is, but UserX had entered a max bid of $25, so the auto-bids happen, and I win the item at $25.50 or whatever the next increment is.

If UserX or another snipe had a max bid of $50, my snipe would have gone in at $40, and they would have won at $40.50.

It's not that a series of back-and forth bids are actually happening, but my snipe is entering in a max-bid of $40, taking advantage of Ebay's auto-bid process, rather than just bidding a straight $40.

My apologies for any clumsiness of my explanation.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Well, that's certainly not how Gixen works, and would likely be an ineffective sniping technique. Also, from their FAQ, that's not what I get. Note that they say _*if current maximum bid is $10.00*_, that's just an example, and a misleading one at that.









If you take the scenario above and assume that their snipe will be $10.50, you lose if their max bid was anything over $10.50. However, if you operate like all the sniping services I've used and you snipe at $30.00 for the above example, you'll get the item if the competing maximum bid is less than your snipe.


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## peterbilt379 (Jan 4, 2013)

After reading and rereading all the comments, I wonder if just waiting till the last few seconds to place a ridiculously high bid isn't the best method. (if you really really) gots to have it. JMHO


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Actually, waiting until the very last second and placing the maximum you're willing to pay for the item is the best way. Let's think about this for a second. By golly, that's exactly what a sniping program does!!!

If you put a ridiculously high bid in and someone else happens to do so as well, you might be owning a $50 item for $2,000!


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## Millstonemike (Aug 9, 2018)

I like "sniping" manually. The best are auctions that end mid-morning on a weekday. Many of the bidders are busy at work and can't increase their bids at the last minute. An advantage to the manual bid approach is I can see the bid history. That reveals the automatic bids/bidders and whether they're still in the game. I doubt the sniping service takes that into account.


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## Matt_GNo27 (Feb 7, 2016)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> Well, that's certainly not how Gixen works, and would likely be an ineffective sniping technique. Also, from their FAQ, that's not what I get. Note that they say _*if current maximum bid is $10.00*_, that's just an example, and a misleading one at that.
> 
> View attachment 556532
> 
> If you take the scenario above and assume that their snipe will be $10.50, you lose if their max bid was anything over $10.50. However, if you operate like all the sniping services I've used and you snipe at $30.00 for the above example, you'll get the item if the competing maximum bid is less than your snipe.



GRJ, you're right, it is misleading. "Current maximum bid" is not the same as current high bid visible on Ebay. If you took the situation above, but their max bid was $10.50—not visible due to Ebay's automatic bidding process—with Myibidder, you would win the auction for $11. With Myibidder, as long as their max bid is $29 or less, you will win and your bid will be whatever the next increment is above their max bid. It's not that there is back-and-forth bidding the sniping software, it's that the sniping software is placing an automatic bid for you with, in my case, 3 seconds remaining. 

What I thought that you were saying, and maybe I've misunderstood you, is that with Gixen, it would just bid $30, without placing an automatic bid, so that regardless of whether the previous max bid was $10, $10.50 or $29, your bid would be $30. That's not the way Myibidder works.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Actually, I believe that's exactly how any sniping program works. They don't have time to evaluate multiple bids, so they put in one bid. We'll just agree to disagree on this point.


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## Matt_GNo27 (Feb 7, 2016)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> Actually, I believe that's exactly how any sniping program works. They don't have time to evaluate multiple bids, so they put in one bid. We'll just agree to disagree on this point.


GRJ, respectfully, it's not a matter of opinion. I've been using Myibidder for years and won more than a few snipes. It turns out that I saved three auto-emails from Myibidder from after winning an Ebay auction. (What I have not been able to find are bidding records on Ebay, but I have looked at them in the past, and can guarantee that Myibidder places an autobid for me, so that as long as the other bidders' max bids are less than my snipe, I will win for the next increment above the highest other max mid.)

Here's the text, the "Final price" is how much I paid for the item, and the "Snipe" is what my maximum bid was:

_The following bid attempt was placed per your request:
Item #392209346001: SIX MTH 20-90498 B to G Great Northern Ore Car w/ Load O Gauge Train Car w/ Box
Final price: 114.50
Snipe: 126.00
Status from eBay:
You are the winner

This is automated email, do not reply.

With Best Regards,
Myibidder.com bid department.

* * *

The following bid attempt was placed per your request:
Item #143015144295: Lionel 28687 SP&S #600 Die-Cast 0-6-0 Docksider Steam Engine w/ Whistle (O/027) 
Final price: 95.00
Snipe: 107.00
Status from eBay:
You are the winner

This is automated email, do not reply.

With Best Regards,
Myibidder.com bid department._

* * *

_The following bid attempt was placed per your request:
Item #223155182996: 2002 Lionel 6-17289 Great Northern Box Car #18485 - New In Box - NIB - NR
Final price: 34.99
Snipe: 41.51
Status from eBay:
You are the winner

This is automated email, do not reply.

With Best Regards,
Myibidder.com bid department._


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## Norton (Nov 5, 2015)

This thread seems to have taken a life of its own. If I am interested in an item I snipe at the last second. No worries about shill bidding. Many times an item is already over my max price so its deleted from my watch list. The only time this doesn't work is when the bidding ends in the middle of the night. Fortunately my list of must have items is close to zero these days.

Pete


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Millstonemike said:


> I like "sniping" manually. The best are auctions that end mid-morning on a weekday. Many of the bidders are busy at work and can't increase their bids at the last minute


I wonder if more people working from home because of COVID lock-downs and restrictions has changed that dynamic.....


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## Millstonemike (Aug 9, 2018)

Old_Hobo said:


> I wonder if more people working from home because of COVID lock-downs and restrictions has changed that dynamic.....


Good point. That would also may impact the snipe s/w. I've punched the "submit" button when the timer reached 1 sec. That trumps a single snipe bid but not an automatic snipe bid.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

If the sniping site is Gixen, it doesn't trump anything. At the end, they just put up my maximum bid, anything coming later has to exceed that or I still win the auction. That's the reason I can't imagine a usable sniping program just going in increments, they won't have time to work their way up the ladder before the bidding ends.


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## Krieglok (Sep 7, 2013)

Some gun sales websites use a “five minute rule” that extends the auction for a set period of time, each time a bid is placed within five minutes of the scheduled end of the auction. This prevents sniping and gets the seller a better sale price.

I have never experienced it, but it seems to work. I doubt it would on eBay though...

Tom


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