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

I had a friend tell me Ebay owns it


>From: "Ronald Robertson" <ronald.robertson (AT) sympatico (DOT) ca>
>To: "James G Cowles"
><shelbyparts (AT) msn (DOT) com>,<dan_drury (AT) midamcorp (DOT) com>,<shelbymustang (AT) carmemories (DOT) com>
>Subject: Re: When 'Snipers' Do Your Online Bidding for You
>Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2006 18:27:41 -0500
>
>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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