Snipestation / powersnipe or similar (eBay)

[ljp]

Does anyone use Snipestation Powersnipe or similar?
Any recommendations for any automated bidding programs for eBay?
Come to think of it are they legal for eBay (it doesn’t seem to mention them in eBay's (http://www.thedvdforums.com/jump2.php?url=http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-582776-5826355) T & C's).

[thetope]

i use bidmate - great for keeping your cards close to your chest and rarely mucks it up. not banned by ebay but probably should be!

[maddogsuk]

ljp Please use the Affiliae tool when you can.

[ljp]

i use bidmate - great for keeping your cards close to your chest and rarely mucks it up. not banned by ebay but probably should be!

How dodgy is it leaving your ebay account details on another site though?
Is it free ?

[benji]

http://www.auctionraptor.com is cheap and seems faster compared to the other systems I've used (it often leaves bidding to the absolute last second)

[bioneuro]

I've been known to use Buyertools for snipe bidding in the past. Works well.

Buyertools (http://www.buyertools.com)

[FlangeMonkey]

I've used SnipeStation since it was launched a couple of years ago - it's won all of the auctions I've ever bid on (only ever bid on 4 or 5 true auctions - I tend to use BIN for almost everything).

You just have to be sensible on the amounts you put in, so look at completed listings for similar items to gauge the price required to win.

Of course, if you REALLY want the item, put a ludicrously high snipe in, and the system will only bid just over the next highest...obviously this wouldn't be good if some fool also put in a massively inflated bid, and your snipe succeeded, ending up outbidding them, so you'd have to pay well over the odds for the item.

You can specify the lead time (I usually leave it at 10secs or so), but it can go down as low as 3secs).

That all said, it's great, and totally free of course. Highly recommended from me.

[doogie]

I use www.auctionsniper.com whenever I feel the need and they've always done the do.

[ben.bayliss]

i use auctionsniper too. free and does the trick. not sure how much of a difference an extra few seconds makes tbh.

[iannewson]

I use www.auction-sentry.com. Its good if you dont trust other people with your details

[amkhan]

I've used JBidWatcher myself, its very slick, works well and its free (as well as all source code available).

[Mosschop]

Can someone explain to me what the point of these tools is? If you know how much you are willing to pay for an item why not just enter that as your highest bid on ebay? Am I missing something?

[ShaneC]

Can someone explain to me what the point of these tools is? If you know how much you are willing to pay for an item why not just enter that as your highest bid on ebay? Am I missing something?

That would work if everyone did that, but they don't. If you place a bid of say £30 and the bidding is currently at £10, people will bid £12, £14 etc until they beat you. Often if you snipe at £30 the people who only want to bid a little at a time will have bid only a low amount and you will beat them and get a bargain.

It also stops you bidding more than you are willing to pay/can afford. If you bid your maximum early and get outbid then you may be tempted to offer more. Sniping usually stops you doing that.

I use Auction Sentry and it snipes 4 seconds before the end of the auction, not missed one yet :)

[ljp]

It also stops people getting their mates to bid on items to raise the price when an early bid has been placed.

[kfells]

I have used http://www.gixen.com/index.php before now and they allow 10 simultaneous snipes for free.

You can also link snipes so that you can snipe several of the same item and if you win one of them, it cancels the rest.

This is the only one I have found that is free that has these features but I have not looked too far.

[mattyp]

I use auctionstealer, never had a problem and 5 free weekly snipes :D

[ljp]

:lol: It seems like everyone wants a bargain! Thanks for the recommendations so far.