Just got cheesed on a GGG MAD rear sight for $66. The web site even had me listed as the high bidder, till after it closed, and some guy dirt something walked with it in the last 3 seconds of the bidding. Damn, I cant win at auctions for crap.Just venting people. And I know, bid to win if you're going to bid at all.

The sniping is fair. If someone wants it that bad let them have it.  You have to think about from the sellers perspective as well, to make as money as possible.  Whats shitty about ebay is their liberal hypocracy(sp).  They allow porno but will not allow the sale of guns. They stopped allowing porno auctions for awhile but were losing so much money they brought it back. Tells you who their God is.

Next time give esnipe.com a try. I have won ten out of twelve bids since I started using it.

Ebay does suck!  I HATE those snipers!

You can have the high bid for the entire auction, with no activity from any other parties, and it's almost a guarantee that some a-hole will outbid you by a dollar in the final 5 seconds.

The funny thing is, people bidding on Ebay are so stupid, they usually pay more than retail for the goods.  For example, and H&K parts usually sell for over 25% the price I can go to my dealer and get it for.  Another time I was bidding on some Winston Cup tickets.  The jerk off outbid me in the last few seconds, so I went to a online ticket agency and bought the tickets for $50 less each!

BTW, [url]www.auctionarms.com[/url] and [url]www.gunbroker.com[/url] are a lot better.

Sometime you can get lucky and find an item the noone else is looking at.  I got a KAC 300m flipup sight NIW for $50.

yeah the sniping sucks

what sucks even more are reservs but thats true with nay auction.

like if i got something i want to sell for 100 bucks why not start the bidding at 100 bucks then.

Hmm.  Well, y'all are going to hate me.  But, I snipe my bids in about 75% of the time.

If you don't like sniping, my suggestion is to learn how to beat snipers.

Tips?

1.  ALWAYS bid odd amounts.  For example, $10.00 will get sniped EASILY.

2.  ALWAYS bid up in odd amounts.  In the above example, I mentioned $10.00.  $11.00 is better, and $11.25 is even better.  But, why not try $11.78?  See- for $1.78 more, you just outwitted about 1/3 to 1/2 of the snipers out there.

3.  Don't be greedy.  You want a bargain, but so does the sniper.  If an item that's worth $100.00 is up, consider paying $75+ for it a bargain.  Hell, $85+ is probably more realistic.  I snips a lot of sales out from idiots who only bid $50 or so for that item.  Thus, I get it for around $51.00.

4.  Snipers thrive off of undervalued top bids.  Look at that $100.00 item.  Let's say you bid low on it.  I see it's going for $25 or so.  I'm attracted, and you'll see me about 2 seconds before the auction ends.  Put in some real value.  When other folks bid, your bid will rise.  BUT, you're still the top bidder.  I look at the item, see a high top bid ($80 for a $100 item), and decide to move on.

5.  Use eSnipe if you're lazy.  However, you're talking to a person who saw a good auction, went to bed around 10:30 pm, set my alarm to wake me at 3:15 am for an auction that ended at 3:30 pm, and successfully sniped it.  Don't be surprised at the tenacity of someone who REALLY wants that item.  How do you know if you'll get the diehards?  Well, is the item one-of-a-kind?  Not offered often?  Quasi-legal at best?  If it's a Salvador Dali poster, I won't look twice.  If it's a signed lithograph, I'll be back.

6.  Make use of those "page viewed x times" counters.  If you watch the auction in the last 10 minutes and see it rise more than 15%, you've got company.

7.  Watch for people who beat your bid by a buck, even if you're still #1.  For example, let's say you bid $30 for an item.  However, you're only up to $25.  The next day (or whenever), you're up to $27.  Someone must have bid $26.00.  (ie. You say $25, I say $26, you say $27.)  No, I'm not testing you- I'm getting a reminder in my emailbox that I bid on something.

Here you are- the secrets of a sniper.  [:D]  You can use them if you stay away from the AR stuff, okay?  [whacko]

Mike

I don't like the way dealers put their reserves on gunbroker. More often than not their reserves are the same as what you could buy the item for in a gunshop.

thanks for the tips and the urls
ebing lazy ill probly use esnipe

Amen to that!

That's why I don't bid on guns there, at least not guns with a reserve.

Why pay $2500 for a beat-up HK91, when my mint 91s cost me under $2000?

But, sometimes some good guns show up, and you will be suprised at the prices you can get them for.  Don't expect to get a preban Colt, or a HK91 or a Glock for a good price, but if you are looking for a lower demand product, you can make out like a bandit!

For example, I wanted a Fabarm/HK shotgun, who the hell else does???  Retail is about $450-500.  Found one LNIB for $250.

Here's another thought, how about rarer guns?  Think of how many thousands of people will do a search for "preban Colt."  Well, alot less people will do a search for "Galil" or "Steyr AUG" or "Valmet," etc...

Thanks guys for all the useful info. Now I'll be better prepared. Most times I'll just pick a round number that I'll bid up to and if it gets beat, oh well.Thats what I was willing to pay. Just in need of a rear sight(just got my Reflex II w/ rx14 mount) and was hoping to stay ahead in the bid. Well, I was till exactly 3 secs before it ended. I just dont have a lot to spend on a rear sight right now and the prospect of trades is pretty slim as well. Nobody seems to need martial arts videos or wants them for that matter. Been trying to get rid of them for about 4 months now.
But now for the new topic. Who has the absolute best prices on GGG Mad flip up sights or any backup sights for that matter? Any other suggestions? I'm looking for something thats rugged but functional. And of course, price is an object. Who's the most cost effective? Which is better? Why? Etc. Thanks guys. You've cheered me up tonight, and armed me for future auctions.
 Synweap223 Out!  

Actually, now that I think about it...  I rarely have a winning bid that's an even or normal number...  $37.89, $22.63...  I've never just paid five bucks for anything.  :-)

As for my tips, they'll work most of the time.  However, remember that there ARE ways to slow down pages so that others can't view them.  (No, I won't explain these.)

The biggest "trick" really isn't- just put in a quality, larghe bid when you do bid.  Then, monitor your auction so that you know if you've been outbid.

Snipers are like liberals; their greatest enemies are thoise who prepare beforehand.

Mike

A solid idea, but incorrect.  Those folks who snipe usually are more "with it" than those who don't snipe.

I do searches for all sorts of items.  Hell, I don't even bother with "preban colt."  Everyone knows about those; thus, the bidding is harsher.

So, less folks will look at "valmet."  But, those that do know what they're doing.

What's worse?  Ten professionals or fifty amateurs?

Mike

The only way to beat snipers is to bid more than they will.  The only way the sniper beat you is that he bid more than you did.  Timing is irrelevant.  It's not like sitting in a room full of people raising their hands to bid against each other.  

It's called proxy bidding.  The best way I can explain it is like sending a friend into the room to bid for you.  You put money in his pocket and he bids by the rules against other people with their friend's money in their own pockets.  Your ebay bid is like putting money in your bidder's pocket.  Raising your bid on ebay is like running into the room to put more money in the guy's pocket.  Bid what you are willing to pay for something the first time.  If that's more than someone else wants to pay, you win.  If they'll pay more, they'll win.  Sniping only beats the guy who thinks he's the one in the room raising his own hand.

Norm

P.S.  I hate reserves, too.  If you've got a minimum you'll sell for, make that the minimum bid.  

P.P.S.  There's a nice looking barrel on ebay, I'm considering sniping on tonight.  Nyuk, Nyuk.  We'll see if the present high bidder is really serious.