User rr_junk has made an interesting feature request, shown as item #3 here:
http://easyonme.com/blog/esnipe/esnipes-new-look/comment-page-1/#comment-60
“An actionable warning that another eSnipe bid outbids me, sort of an eBay within eSnipe. To be fair both bidders would have to be informed in a timely and actionable way.”
This has twists on it that the casual eSnipe auction sniper may not have contemplated. The obvious one is that it would arguably breach our privacy policy if we gave you the ID of the other auction sniper. I think it would be a breach in spirit, if not the contract itself. (Feedback from attorneys welcome on this point.) Let’s say we get past that hurdle, perhaps via some kind of escape clause or additional option both parties would have to click. The other problem is that most eBay users are not, sadly, eSnipe customers. So while it would help you to know another eSnipe user had outbid you, you might still be outbid by one of the unenlightened few not discriminating enough to our service.
It’s a titillating thought. Let me know how you’d stand on the matter.
Even if the information was supposedly ‘anonymous’ if eSnipe gave you a notice that another eSnipe user was bidding on your item, when the auction was complete you could look at the eBay history and have a good guess of which other bidder was the other eSnipe user. This would be a breach of privacy in spirit if not in actuality.
@Adam: So true. I also came up with that same point independently but neglected to mention it. And thanks tons for that input. You would sure know!
@Adam: But all the bidders are anonymous on eBay now – so while you could tell that “Bidder 7″ was likely another sniper – you wouldn’t be able to tell who they were.
A lot of the things I bid on with eSnipe are clearly also being bid on by other people using eSnipe.
I don’t think this feature is necessary though. You bid what you can afford, right?
I use eSnipe because I DON’T want to play the (bidding war)
eBay game! I DEFINITELY DO NOT think eSnipe should even consider doing such a thing! I am VERY happy with eSnipe, and I don’t want to HAVE to go to different bidding service.
How about another esnipe say esnipe2 that places a last second bid on esnipe to place your bid on ebay. This way you will have an upperhand on all esnipe users.
If this happens, the best thing for both bidders would be that eSnipe only forwards the highest of the two bids to eBay. The one with the lowest would have no chance of winning and would only drive up the prize for the winner.
@dtzo: I believe that is incorrect, since the highest is the only one to be concerned about with proxy bidding, no?
@tr3: I almost took that seriously for a moment. Gave me a laugh!
Cheers,
Tom Campbell, CEO
eSnipe, Inc.
Hmm, dtzo has a really good point. If you could stop the other eSnipe bids from going through it would lower the price of the item…!
I don’t think that esnipe should let us know that another user has outbid us. Like someone else said, I use esnipe because I don’t want a bidding war. Although I have never and see no reason to ever use one, there are other sniping services out there. Being able to outbid another esnipe user doesn’t mean that another service user or a very lucky manual user would not win. If given a choice, I would not chose to participate in sharing of information. It is an interesting thought though.
absolutely bad idea. it’s like not having esnipe, as we put in the most we can spend to start with. i would not use it
@joanna, I must say I agree. Yours is a most cogent answer.
Cheers,
The Management
One more vote for dtzo’s idea. No reason for Esnipe to drive up the winning esnipe user’s price.
Thanks, Nibuhr!
Cheers,
The Management
Agree that this is a BAD idea. Negates the reason for using esnipe in the first place. As a long time and loyal esnipe user, I can easily say that if esnipe started notifying other users of my high bid and vice versa, I would switch to another sniping service without hesitation. Please don’t do it!!
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Please don’t follow eBay’s current rapid spiral to destruction by ruining something that works great and is brilliant in it’s simplicity.
And no, we don’t want to only sent the highest of the two eSnipe bids either… it works the way it is, whoever wants it the most wins it!
Another vote for dtzo’s idea, but without any advance notice. Only the highest esnipe bid should be placed at the same time (same buffer time). The regular esnipe email should then tell the loser that he was outbid as happens now.
What difference does it make that you are outbid by another esnipe user or a user of another bidding service? If you haven’t bid enough to begin with, you are going to lose anyway. The idea doesn’t help you win more auctions. Bid your top limit and let the chips fall where they may.
Please do not notify other esnipe users if they have a lower bid. It would end the reason I use esnipe since I do not like to engage in bidding wars. If you want to send only the winning esnipe bid, that is ok but a bid is a bid.
@Scott, consider the feature dead! We do try to avoid the do-something disease here.
Cheers.
Tom Campbell, CEO
eSnipe, Inc.
@wjc, I think we’ll just stick to using eBay’s proxy bid approach. That’s getting the overwhelming vote from your peers.
Yours,
Tom Campbell, CEO
eSnipe, Inc.
@bobo-lover (now there’s a handle), you’re in the majority. Thanks for letting us know. And of course your last line is always, always the way it works ultimately. Thanks!
Cheers,
Tom Campbell, CEO
eSnipe, Inc.
@Madhatter, you are not alone. Looks like it’s status quo, and I don’t mind that at all. Thank you for posting.
Look, you were out bid, so What! You didn’t want it bad enough to begin with! So why do you need to know who out bid your bid?? Really! Don’t you have a life?
But I will say this: I NEVER USE THE DEFAULT TIMER SETTING…..Think about it!
I am a Very Very Satisfied eSnipe user!
Michael
Santa Clarita, CA 91351
This would defeat the whole purpose, cause new bidding wars within esnipe. Please dont even consider doing it.
@Dan, we hear you. You’re definitely in the majority here. I’m going to leave things as they are.
Cheers,
Tom Campbell, CEO
eSnipe, Inc.
No. Huge privacy issue here. Snipers act in secret… such a feature would kill the ‘stealth’ nature of the whole concept. Hope you’re doing well.
@Dan, with you 100%.
@A. Roth, thanks for the comment. Privacy is a huge topic here. We take it way more seriously than I would sometimes like (because the things we could do with that data, he said wistfully…)
Adding my two cents to the majority- I don’t want ANYONE to have any information whatsoever about my bidding before it hits eBay’s servers, directly or indirectly. That would undermine the very reason I use eSnipe to begin with. I want my bids to be as though they didn’t exist at all until the second they’re executed. You have it perfect right now. Please don’t change a thing!
It is called SNIPE for a good reason.
“One shot, one kill.”
@A. Roth, @Garth: I think the privacy breach is by far the biggest argument against such a feature. Garth has it precisely correct by understanding that it is the indirect danger to our privacy policy, which is sacrosanct to eSnipe and always has been.
@trail_hawk: Your comment is deadly efficient, like the raptor of your name.
No. I appreciate the notice when my snipe bid is too low and should I freely choose not to raise my bid it’s fair that you don’t charge for a service not performed. THAT’S as far as you guys should go. I have used your service for the same reason others have already commented on. I have even pulled snipe bids with less than 6 minutes to go because of outside circumstances that required such action. This brings up another scenario re “shaking down” the other high bidder. Heck, if you want the item bad enough bid accordingly. If someone else has deeper pockets and/or greater passion for that item…c’est la vie.
Where I do get tired of the deeper pocket theory refers to those bidders who all ready outbid you the first time and “won” but have to outbid you again the 2nd time for the same darn item!!!? Again, c’est la vie.
I really like dtzo’s idea of only forwarding the highest esnipe bid on a given item to ebay.
There’s no reason for two esnipers to drive up the price of the item at the last second bidding against each other. If they had both had their bids posted, then the higher one might have won the item, but would have (unnecessarily) paid one bid increment over the second-highest esniper’s bid. Had only the highest bid been sent, the ultimate winner would have remained the same, but the final price would have been lower.
Of course, with bid point charges based on sales prices, esnipe has a vested interest in *not* implementing this scheme….
– Rick
Totally agree with the people (and the Beatles) that say “Let it be”. I like the fact that sometimes I can put in a bid that bags me something I want without going into a bidding war. I don’t always get what I place an eSnipe bid on, but I learned early from the Rolling Stones, “You can’t always get what you want…”
The idea of sniping is that nobody knows you are the high bidder before the end of the auction. If eSnipe let someone know I had outbid them, it completely defeats the purpose. In fact, the only reasonable way to use eSnipe then would be to snipe it. This could lead to a new service called eSnipeSnipe that handles placing bids on eSnipe at the last second before the auction closes.
I entirely believe that doing this would break the service, possibly completely… mostly for reasons that are well enumerated about, and most of which you’d likely already thought of. Leave well enough alone.
Gads, no! To reveal another eSniper’s maximum bid would be contrary to the entire concept of eSnipe, to wit, name your maximum [sic] bid and then hope.
@stephen T: You’re now preaching to the choir! Thanks.
Just discovered this page, and have left three comments so far! Excuse, please! But I just had to say that the best way to use eSnipe is to decide RIGHT AWAY what is the MOST you want to pay for an item, enter that bid on eSnipe, and then FORGET IT!
Else you get involved in the ego thing, and pay too much. You had better know what is your TOP line, and stick to it. So telling you you’ve been outbid shouldn’t change what you do in the least, because you should have already entered the most you’d pay.
Mary Lou
@Mary Lou, you said it best. And keep the comments flowing. We love them.
Cheers,
Tom Campbell
It’s simple:
Should eSnipe let you know if another eSniper has outbid you?
No of course not. Why? Place your snipe and go take a walk.
@anj, with you there. Response has been overwhelmingly in agreement with you.
Another vote for what dtzo said. Just let us know AFTER the auction has ended we were outbid by another esnipe user. Otherwise it would be frustrating not to know why our bid didn’t win, when it could be higher than the actual winning price.
About dtzos idea … if you do that, this may indeed lower winning prices, which may be nice for the winner.
But think further. A seller offers a valuable item (his house, car, a 1 kg gold bar). You conspire by letting only the highest bidder place a bid who will win the item for $1. You could say, no one else was interested in his house or car, but a 1 kg gold bar will definetely find at least 2 people bidding near the current market price, because they can easily sell the bar with a profit.
The law is not the same everywhere, but in Austria people are not bound to a contract if there has been a serious misunderstanding. In this case the seller offers the item under the assumption or agreement (maybe even a contract) that the one who outbids all the others get’s it for the price exceeding the second highest bidder. If this assumption is invalid then the seller is not obliged to give the item to the winner for $1.
Such a conspiracy may well be illegal, probably fraud. And if it is legal, and the seller can be forced by some laws to trade the gold bar for $1, sellers in these juristictions will stop using ebay, if the chance to become a victim of such a conspiracy becomes to big.
Of course, ebay will take very aggressive legal actions to prevent such things. They earn a lot of money and they will not give up their business without fighting. Plus, a lot of people like to use ebay. Some of them will, too, fight for ebay to remain. Probably some of those who were kicked out of their houses or lost their car for $1.
I wouldn’t dare make a lot of people that angry.
Bernhard