Snipe software

[mumblypeg]

If someone is using snipe software and sets it to bid on an item, does it show as a 'watcher' on the seller's page?
Not important, just curious.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

No. Ebay has no idea the snipe is set-up. Ebay sees the snipe program as just *you* logging in and placing a bid. Watcher's are the people that actually click the "Watch" link on the auction. I often click the Watch at the same time I set-up a snipe, because then I can see it on My Ebay page.

[jerryd6818]

What Suitcase said.

Now and then I'll snipe (Gixen) something I'm watching but usually not. It's easy enough to go into Gixen and click on the item number I have set up and it takes me to that item. I'm very high on Gixen. Probably because it works well and it's FREE.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

Gixen is my current choice as well. Copy & Paste the item number, add your max price, and wait for the magic to happen...

[mumblypeg]

Thanks, I was wondering about how the software works. Whether or not it kept you logged in or in the last second, boom, there it is. I was selling a knife a few weeks ago and it had a lot watchers but few bids. Then it doubled in price in the last 5 seconds. Was just curious about how it works.
Thanks for shining a light on it.
Richard

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

The good sniping sites are constantly monitoring the network latency between their servers and ebay. They are also monitoring how long it takes to login and place a bid via the ebay application programming interface (API). They can use this information to continuously adjust how long before the end of the auction they execute your snipe bid. The free version of gixen says they can place your bid at 5 seconds with 99.5% reliability. The paid version claims they can do 3 seconds with 100% reliability, and they also claim "no paid subscriber has ever missed an auction due to gixen malfunction". (I don't know if anyone could actually prove this) Currently, the gixen status says they have over 6500 users with pending snipes, and a total of over 38,000 pending individual snipes.

There was a time when ebay tried to prevent sniping. That (of course) failed. I think now they understand that providing the API to allow partners to integrate with ebay is good for everyone, including ebay.

[mumblypeg]