ebay snipping

[kalos]

hello

is there a reliable, easy to use, secure way to snip an ebay auction?

set it to place a specific bid, specific seconds before end?

I found some, but they ask me for my ebay login info! isn't this dubious?

if it is free, that would be best!

thanks!

[4wd]

If you don't give the online service or a pc-based program your login details how do you expect it to bid on your behalf?

I use Gixen occasionally but it won't work if you use two-factor authentication - I don't expect any of them would.

[kalos]

what is two factor authentication and how can I know if I use it?

[4wd]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-factor_authentication

If you only use a username and password to log in then you don't use TFA.

[rjbull]

Shopper Tools (mentions Gixen)

I use - on the odd occasion when I use it - freeware Biet-O-Matic (Bid-O-Matic).

[mwb1100]

I have used auctionsniper.com and been happy with it.  Yes, at first it didn't feel safe that I had to give them my eBay credentials, but it makes sense that they need them.

So far I haven't noticed any funny business.  I'm not a heavy eBay user though - I probably average buying 5 or 6 items a year, and most of those are "Buy It Now" to boot.

For me, the sniping service isn't so much about winning auctions - it's about psychological benefits when I lose an auction. When I manually bid and lose, I will either feel that my bid was just used as something for others to chip away at (in the case where I just set my max bid with eBay) or that I - or my machine - wasn't quick enough in the case of a manual snipe.  If I lose with a snipe set by a service, I feel like I lost the auction because it legitimately got priced beyond what I wanted to pay.

So when I use the sniping tool, I don't feel any regret over lost auctions.

[4wd]

Basically it comes down to one question when trying to win an auction using sniping:

Do I really want to win?

If the answer is 'Yes', then an online service with multi-server redundancy is the way you want to go ... and you'll probably have to pay for it.

If it's 'No', then use a program on your computer or a free online service, (the free ones don't normally provide redundancy), but be prepared that you might not win because of things like, eg. power outages, ISP is down, computer blows up, you're having hot sex and forgot to turn the computers power-saving off, the city the data centre is in suffered an ebola outbreak, the data centre turned into SkyNet, etc, etc, etc.

If you don't trust the online service (why would you pick a service you don't trust?):

• unlink your ebay account from any monetary account, (PayPal, bank, credit card, etc)
• turn off TFA (if you use it - I do) and only enter the auction/account details an hour or so before auction end
• after the auction, turn TFA back on or change your password if you don't use TFA

[40hz]

So when I use the sniping tool, I don't feel any regret over lost auctions.

My approach is to simply go in about 5 minutes before close of auction and watch the bidding until the 90 second mark. I'll then enter my initial bid at 1 minute and see what happens. I there's a flurry of counterbids, it's pretty obvious the snipe bots are at work and I'll either walk away or wait till the 20 second mark and enter my real final bid.

If I lose the bid, I lose it. There's nothing I need so much at auction that I'll ever be upset if I lose it. And losing the bid costs zero.

But that's me.