> 1) Buyers who don't really put their maximum bid on the line. If you try > to get a title at a bargain, and aren't willing to pony up your true > maximum, you are likely to get out-sniped. Solution -- put your true > maximum, then you don't have to worry about snipers. You'll either get it, > or it would have cost more than you were willing to pay. This is also true > when sniping.
Very true, all of this. One thing I'd like to mention, though, about "true maximum" bids, is that there's always a bit of a grey area around them. Say I bid (in advance) $400.05, and you come along and try to snipe at the last second with $400.01. I had the highest bid, you lose by 4 cents. And naturally, you're PISSED. Would you have gone $400.06 knowing you'd win? Almost certainly. When you're dealing with increments in pennies, or, as is admittedly more often the case, a dollar at a time, it's very hard to set an absolute cutoff point. There's always the chance you'd consider going "just one dollar higher". Especially after you've just lost, there's a definite psychological impact to losing a great auction. I suspect this is why so many snipe victims feel cheated and outraged. The final tally shows they were outbid by a dollar, but because of proxy bidding the winner may have gone anywhere from $1 to $1 million higher. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/
