eBay Dark Arts

Posted Week 05 by Don · No Comments

Have you ever been outbid in the final moments of an eBay auction?

You were probably auction sniped. Sure, it’s likely someone was up at 3am, clicking refresh every few minutes, waiting patiently to torpedo your bid for the 1969 release of The Stooges.

But why bother? It’s much easier to sign up for one of several auction sniping services. Just give them the item number and a maximum price you’re willing to pay. Then, seconds before the end of an auction, the automated process places your bid. No more fumbling with page reloads. No more emotional outbidding wars. No more bidding at work. No more lost sleep.

Now, I can’t vouch for any of these services, as I haven’t used them. Caveat Emptor.

One side effect of auction sniping is that it reduces the chance of counter bids, as other bidders often do not have time to react. Without counter bids to help drive up the final price, sellers make less money. However, I suppose a low price is better than no price.

I don’t see how sniping is all that bad. It is essentially automating a task you could do yourself, if you wanted to park yourself in front of the screen and hover over the “Place Bid” button. It requires evaluating the maximum value of an item well before bidding, which emphasises rational behaviour over the need to outbid an adversary.

The winner of an auction still comes down to a maximum bid, not beating the clock.