Ethics of eBay??

[MarcFive]

I use auction sniper all the time. I think the auction style of ebay is kind of funky to begin with. I hate getting into
bidding wars with some kid with a ZERO score, the kid wins, doesn't pay, item relists... Worse, I'm selling the item...
I look at an item (read- guitar related), and bid the max I'm willing to pay for it. Period. End of story. Usually if I win I'm paying real close to the max, or more commonly the max I have bid. I think ebay panders to the crowd who think they're going to score something under market value. As for me, I guess I think my way is more ethical.

It's auctionsniper.com, only had one snafu, a bid didn't take place. Probably due to me.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Your scenario above sounds more like the max bidder's current bid automatically increasing in response to a flurry of other, lower max bids, from several different bidders. It would only benefit the seller to nibble the price up, and I've never seen a utility that would automatically nibble up a bid for a bidder.

Sorry my friend but, it is pretty obvious that a bidding program was at work in this particular instance.

There were a total of 16 bids from the same person. All of the bids were un-interrupted by another bidder. EVERY bid was $2 higher than the previous. AND.... ALL of the bids were no more than 2 seconds apart!

I dont care how fast your internet connection is or how many windows you have open to place bids. You ARE NOT going to get a bid to process on eBay in 1-2 second intervals.

I wish I could do a screen capture and post the bid history but my computer is giving me fits!   

[alanp]

Govt, I like yer, but I suspects th' ebay stooge has paid 'em off more'en you

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Govt, I like yer, but I suspects th' ebay stooge has paid 'em off more'en you

Ha! 

Im not looking to get a fight going. I just thought that sniping was frowned upon but, apparently it is not discouraged! 

Or even enforced!

[Willybomb]

I look at an item (read- guitar related), and bid the max I'm willing to pay for it. Period. End of story. Usually if I win I'm paying real close to the max, or more commonly the max I have bid.

I'm the same.  90% of the time I'm bidding on a "nice to have" item, so I put down the max I want to pay and forget about it until the auction is over.  Once I won a Presonus digitube for AU$75 with a $100 max bid and the bloke shipped it before the funds had gone in!

If I seriously want an item, I'll just use "buy it now".

[peAk]

Ebay is more of a store to me now and I just use the "buy it now" option.

[atreidesheir]

I didn't know sniping was a no/no.  It is not my style though.  I rarely bid competitively either.

[kothoma]

Can't find anything about automated bidding in eBay rules and policies or the user agreement.

But http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auction_sniping states:
"While auction sniping is frowned upon by some people, it may not always break the rules established by the auction site. For example it is permitted by eBay. eBay Germany banned automated sniping services in 2002, but the ban was declared illegal by Berlin's County Court, and revoked."