Snipe Swipe helps you win eBay auctions

Grizzled eBay veterans know all too well that the action on any auction doesn't heat up until the last few minutes. Bidding wars can be won and lost by who had the fastest click--or the highest auto-bid. To aid in this nail-biting process is Snipe Swipe, a "sniping" tool with a new Firefox add-on that does the bidding for you at the very last possible second.

Once installed you'll get a new button on any auction page that lets you set it to be sniped. After you've done this, it gets flagged in Snipe Swipe's system and will be bid on, up to the maximum amount you set, even if your computer is off.

Because it's part of a sign-up service, you only get three free "snipes" with Snipe Swipe. After that, you can either go in on a monthly service with unlimited bids, or a $5 bundle of points that can be used on future bids.

It's worth noting that sniping is not discouraged by eBay, as the online auctioneer has its own proxy bidding tool. However, third party tools such as Snipe Swipe are constantly trying to outwit this system, which is why these tools have garnered a less-than-respectable reputation in the eBay community.

Related: eBay opening up add-on marketplace, APIs

Once installed, Snipe Swipe adds a new option to eBay listings to let you attempt to win them at the last second.

(Credit: Mozilla / Snipe Swipe)

[terminalblue]

this is kind of sleazy. its easy enough to use ebay, and staying up late and bidding an auction is part of what little fun is left in ebay.

[ianbnet]

i'm still not entirely sure how this is different from simply raising your maximum bid in ebay the first time around...

[professionaladventurer]

Is there really stuff on ebay that is so important to win? If you need it soooooo bad just max out your bid. I guess there is all kine wired crap that people are into that you can't get on the street, but I still don't get it.

[nicmart]

I'm not much of an eBayer, but in my experience it is best if your bid is unexpected, especially if an item has few or no bids. If it arrives at the last moment then it will take other delayers by surprise, and might cause them to bid lower than they otherwise might have.

[msjonker]

This is nothing new. There are completely free services that do this, like GavelSnipe, for example.

[Josh.Lowensohn]

I never said sniping was new. It's been around since online auctions began, this is simply a new tool for the job.

[ScottRiqui]

Sniping does two important things for you: By waiting until the last seconds to put in your bid, it keeps you from getting sucked into a bidding war, where you raise your bid higher than you initially would have because you've gotten swept up in the competitive aspect of bidding.

Also, it doesn't give the other bidders a chance to repeatedly raise their proxy bids by small amounts in an effort to find out what *your* max bid is. Since you're entering your bid at the last second, if it's the highest bid, no one else is going to have a chance to raise their proxy bid to beat you.

Also, auctions with bids already on them tend to attract even more bidders, so by waiting until the last second, you don't "draw attention" to the auction any earlier than necessary.

[gerrrg]

More like the last few seconds...it's all about getting that price ready to submit at the 2 seconds before the end...and hope you guessed right that no one else would do the same with a higher price.

[DatabaseDoctor]

AuctionStealer.com is another good site.

[Penguinisto]

And this folks, is a big reason why eBay is basically crap. Yep, there have been snipe tools out for literally (almost) a decade now. But if you think about it, oftentimes you end up paying more for an item (esp. after figuring in shipping and 'handling' charges) than you would have had to pay otherwise from other avenues.

But hey - it's your money - go for it.

[jc364]

For some items, I would agree. However, Ebay still has its uses. For instance, I was able to grab a new Toshiba 40 GB mp3 player off of Ebay, and a few months later I saw a 30GB model in a store for about $150 more.

Plus, there are some items that just aren't sold in most stores anymore.

[natosanders]

Ebay for the main part makes its money from uninformed shoppers. You can find good deals if you are not looking for the newest toy, but if you are you'll get the toy and it'll cost you. Other stuff not on the brim of the latest tech craze new or used can be found for reasonable prices, if you explore all the different ways it can be posted. Oh yeah and Auction Sentry works great.

[swrobel]

I've been using Hammersnipe.com for years happily. 3 free snipes/week. Much better deal than this (if you can handle manually copying & pasting the item number).

[benboy3]

I used to these sites until Ebay suspended my account for unauthorised access. They told me to stop using ezsniper and never give out my password to a 3rd party again.