RE: When 'Snipers' Do Your Online Bidding for You

Take a guess who owns auction sniper


>From: "Dan Drury" <dan_drury (AT) midamcorp (DOT) com>
>To: "CARMEMORIES" <shelbymustang (AT) carmemories (DOT) com>
>Subject: When 'Snipers' Do Your Online Bidding for You
>Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2006 09:48:21 -0600
>
>I thought you guys might find this interesting......
>
>
>
>When 'Snipers' Do Your Online Bidding for You
>
>By HANNAH KINNERSLEY
>January 5, 2006; Page D3
>
>If you've ever lost out in an online auction at the last moment, chances
>are you were sniped.
>
>That is, the winning bid was probably placed by so-called sniping software
>and the actual bidder might have signed off hours earlier. Sniper software
>isn't illegal and it has developed a following among online bidders. But
>the practice isn't encouraged by auction sites such as eBay and Yahoo.
>
>The main advantage is that a sniper can enter the bid data faster than most
>people can type, allowing a bid to be placed at the last second after all
>other bids have been set. Snipers also make it unnecessary for the bidder
>to be physically present at the time of the bid -- a big bonus if the
>auction for your desired item ends at midnight, Pacific time, and you live
>in New York.
>
>There are two main types of snipers: Web-hosted ones that require users to
>log in, and downloadable software that manages bids and snipes on a user's
>computer.
>
>Web-hosted snipers work with any operating system and have a reliably fast
>Internet connection, a step up for bidders still accessing the Web from
>dial-up connections. Snipers can be preprogrammed to bid at the latest
>moment, and automatically synchronize with eBay's clock. And because
>bidders can input the item number and bid amount at any point before the
>end of the auction, they don't need to be online, or even have their
>computer on, at the time of the bid. Users enter their maximum bid and the
>sniper will bid in increments up to that amount.
>
>The drawback of Web-hosted snipers is that unlike a one-time purchase for a
>piece of software, users pay either a monthly fee, a set fee for each bid,
>or a percentage of each win when they use it. For regular eBay users the
>costs can add up.
>
>Prices for sniper software range from $14.95 to around $50. For users
>nervous about giving out information online, it can be preferable to a
>Web-hosted sniper, which requires your eBay user name and password. The
>software, however, will only be as fast as the bidder's Internet
>connection, and when eBay changes any part of its auction software, sniping
>software will often require an upgrade or patch.
>
>To find the best bet for successful bidding, we tested five snipers for
>ease of use, and in a nail-biting grand finale had them bid against each
>other in four auctions to see if we could find a consistent winner. All the
>auctions were for girls' party dresses, and each one ended at 10-minute
>intervals over the course of an evening. This gave us time to adjust our
>maximum amounts and how many seconds before the end of an auction to bid.
>
>Bidnapper, a Web-hosted sniper at www.bidnapper.com, had a helpful tutorial
>on bidding strategy and bid increments, and a straightforward interface
>that allows users to see current and previous bids at a glance. After every
>auction Bidnapper sent an email to us explaining why we had lost, (usually
>the bid was too low,) or telling us that we had won. Although Bidnapper won
>two auctions against manual bidders, it failed to even register a bid when
>facing off against other test snipers.
>
>Silent Snipe, available for Mac (OS X) and Windows 98 and higher can be
>downloaded from www.silentsnipe.com. The program won one auction where the
>bidding was heated but, because of the time between each bid, appeared to
>be manual rather than automated bidding. It didn't fare well against our
>other snipers at auction.
>
>Auction Sniper, at www.auctionsniper.com, turned out to be the sniper to
>beat, winning three out of four auctions against our other snipers and
>charging only for the winning auctions. Logging in and entering auction
>information was quick and easy, but Auction Sniper also has a feature
>called Snipe It Now! that lets users install a button on their browser.
>When they find an item they want to bid on, Snipe It Now will automatically
>enter the item number in a pop-up box and set up the snipe automatically,
>making it the easiest sniper to use.
>
>Powersnipe, available from www.powersnipe.com, is both a Web-hosted sniper
>and downloadable browser tool for Mac and PC that will help you search eBay
>and collect auction information for sniping. Powersnipe won one out of four
>auctions against our other snipers. Powersnipe had the simplest interface,
>but under previous auctions that were not won, no reason was listed so it
>was hard to know if we were underbidding or bidding late.
>
>The last Web-hosted sniper we tried, Phantom Bidder, is available at
>www.phantombidder.com and works with eBay Motors as well as all
>international eBay sites except Korea. Phantom Bidder offers two pricing
>plans, a monthly fee for unlimited bidding or bid credits that can be
>bought and are only used up when an auction is won. Although Phantom Bidder
>has some helpful features, like a Black List option that remembers sellers
>that users have had bad experiences with, it didn't win any auctions
>against our other snipers.
>
>Our experience taught us that snipers can be helpful for bidders who are
>managing a lot of auctions close together, and for those bidding in an
>auction that ends when they can't be online.
>
>Write to cranky (AT) wsj (DOT) com
>
>
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> WEB SITE PRICE OPERATING SYSTEM AUCTION COMPATIBLE COMMENT
> auctionsniper.com Three free auctions then 1% of each winning
>auction, up to a cap of $9.95 Platform independent. eBay The most
>consistently successful, and made it easy to manage multiple bids.
> bidnapper.com One year unlimited service, $46.95 or 10 winning
>snipes, $19.95 Platform independent. eBay and Yahoo auctions Archived
>complete auction info so users can track favorite sellers.
> phantombidder.com $9 a month to subscribe or $6 for 10 bid credits.
> Platform independent. eBay, eBay Motors and international eBay sites
>(except Korea) Black List feature avoids preset sellers in individual
>auctions and bid groups.
> powersnipe.com One-year subscription $59.99 Platform independent
>U.S. and international eBay sites. It didn't let us change timing of the
>bid to make it closer to auction's end.
> silentsniper.com $19.95 to download version 2.0 Mac OS X and
>Windows 98 and higher. U.S., U.K. and German eBay sites Sign-in screen
>opened behind the auction-management tool, causing confusion at first.

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I can't even guess and it's driving me nuts!
Who? Who? Who? (lol)
Ron
----- Original Message -----
From: "James G Cowles" <shelbyparts (AT) msn (DOT) com>
To: <dan_drury (AT) midamcorp (DOT) com>; <shelbymustang (AT) carmemories (DOT) com>
Sent: Friday, January 06, 2006 5:26 PM
Subject: RE: When 'Snipers' Do Your Online Bidding for You


> Take a guess who owns auction sniper
>
>
>>From: "Dan Drury" <dan_drury (AT) midamcorp (DOT) com>
>>To: "CARMEMORIES" <shelbymustang (AT) carmemories (DOT) com>
>>Subject: When 'Snipers' Do Your Online Bidding for You
>>Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2006 09:48:21 -0600
>>
>>I thought you guys might find this interesting......
>>
>>
>>
>>When 'Snipers' Do Your Online Bidding for You
>>
>>By HANNAH KINNERSLEY
>>January 5, 2006; Page D3
>>
>>If you've ever lost out in an online auction at the last moment, chances
>>are you were sniped.
>>
>>That is, the winning bid was probably placed by so-called sniping software
>>and the actual bidder might have signed off hours earlier. Sniper software
>>isn't illegal and it has developed a following among online bidders. But
>>the practice isn't encouraged by auction sites such as eBay and Yahoo.
>>
>>The main advantage is that a sniper can enter the bid data faster than
>>most people can type, allowing a bid to be placed at the last second after
>>all other bids have been set. Snipers also make it unnecessary for the
>>bidder to be physically present at the time of the bid -- a big bonus if
>>the auction for your desired item ends at midnight, Pacific time, and you
>>live in New York.
>>
>>There are two main types of snipers: Web-hosted ones that require users to
>>log in, and downloadable software that manages bids and snipes on a user's
>>computer.
>>
>>Web-hosted snipers work with any operating system and have a reliably fast
>>Internet connection, a step up for bidders still accessing the Web from
>>dial-up connections. Snipers can be preprogrammed to bid at the latest
>>moment, and automatically synchronize with eBay's clock. And because
>>bidders can input the item number and bid amount at any point before the
>>end of the auction, they don't need to be online, or even have their
>>computer on, at the time of the bid. Users enter their maximum bid and the
>>sniper will bid in increments up to that amount.
>>
>>The drawback of Web-hosted snipers is that unlike a one-time purchase for
>>a piece of software, users pay either a monthly fee, a set fee for each
>>bid, or a percentage of each win when they use it. For regular eBay users
>>the costs can add up.
>>
>>Prices for sniper software range from $14.95 to around $50. For users
>>nervous about giving out information online, it can be preferable to a
>>Web-hosted sniper, which requires your eBay user name and password. The
>>software, however, will only be as fast as the bidder's Internet
>>connection, and when eBay changes any part of its auction software,
>>sniping software will often require an upgrade or patch.
>>
>>To find the best bet for successful bidding, we tested five snipers for
>>ease of use, and in a nail-biting grand finale had them bid against each
>>other in four auctions to see if we could find a consistent winner. All
>>the auctions were for girls' party dresses, and each one ended at
>>10-minute intervals over the course of an evening. This gave us time to
>>adjust our maximum amounts and how many seconds before the end of an
>>auction to bid.
>>
>>Bidnapper, a Web-hosted sniper at www.bidnapper.com, had a helpful
>>tutorial on bidding strategy and bid increments, and a straightforward
>>interface that allows users to see current and previous bids at a glance.
>>After every auction Bidnapper sent an email to us explaining why we had
>>lost, (usually the bid was too low,) or telling us that we had won.
>>Although Bidnapper won two auctions against manual bidders, it failed to
>>even register a bid when facing off against other test snipers.
>>
>>Silent Snipe, available for Mac (OS X) and Windows 98 and higher can be
>>downloaded from www.silentsnipe.com. The program won one auction where the
>>bidding was heated but, because of the time between each bid, appeared to
>>be manual rather than automated bidding. It didn't fare well against our
>>other snipers at auction.
>>
>>Auction Sniper, at www.auctionsniper.com, turned out to be the sniper to
>>beat, winning three out of four auctions against our other snipers and
>>charging only for the winning auctions. Logging in and entering auction
>>information was quick and easy, but Auction Sniper also has a feature
>>called Snipe It Now! that lets users install a button on their browser.
>>When they find an item they want to bid on, Snipe It Now will
>>automatically enter the item number in a pop-up box and set up the snipe
>>automatically, making it the easiest sniper to use.
>>
>>Powersnipe, available from www.powersnipe.com, is both a Web-hosted sniper
>>and downloadable browser tool for Mac and PC that will help you search
>>eBay and collect auction information for sniping. Powersnipe won one out
>>of four auctions against our other snipers. Powersnipe had the simplest
>>interface, but under previous auctions that were not won, no reason was
>>listed so it was hard to know if we were underbidding or bidding late.
>>
>>The last Web-hosted sniper we tried, Phantom Bidder, is available at
>>www.phantombidder.com and works with eBay Motors as well as all
>>international eBay sites except Korea. Phantom Bidder offers two pricing
>>plans, a monthly fee for unlimited bidding or bid credits that can be
>>bought and are only used up when an auction is won. Although Phantom
>>Bidder has some helpful features, like a Black List option that remembers
>>sellers that users have had bad experiences with, it didn't win any
>>auctions against our other snipers.
>>
>>Our experience taught us that snipers can be helpful for bidders who are
>>managing a lot of auctions close together, and for those bidding in an
>>auction that ends when they can't be online.
>>
>>Write to cranky (AT) wsj (DOT) com
>>
>>
>>
>>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> WEB SITE PRICE OPERATING SYSTEM AUCTION COMPATIBLE COMMENT
>> auctionsniper.com Three free auctions then 1% of each winning
>> auction, up to a cap of $9.95 Platform independent. eBay The most
>> consistently successful, and made it easy to manage multiple bids.
>> bidnapper.com One year unlimited service, $46.95 or 10 winning
>> snipes, $19.95 Platform independent. eBay and Yahoo auctions Archived
>> complete auction info so users can track favorite sellers.
>> phantombidder.com $9 a month to subscribe or $6 for 10 bid
>> credits. Platform independent. eBay, eBay Motors and international eBay
>> sites (except Korea) Black List feature avoids preset sellers in
>> individual auctions and bid groups.
>> powersnipe.com One-year subscription $59.99 Platform independent
>> U.S. and international eBay sites. It didn't let us change timing of the
>> bid to make it closer to auction's end.
>> silentsniper.com $19.95 to download version 2.0 Mac OS X and
>> Windows 98 and higher. U.S., U.K. and German eBay sites Sign-in screen
>> opened behind the auction-management tool, causing confusion at first.
>
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