# ATTENTION: HOBBYTALK BROTHAS & SISTAS



## XactoHazzard (May 20, 2003)

If you guys love me you'll not bid on this kit... Well unless you really need it... As you all know I am Bowen phanatic and collector... This is one I need! So please have it in you heart to hope that I win this at a resonable price... I purchased some "grails this month so I'm low on cash, I would love to snag this puppy. Wish me luck!!!

 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1192&item=5969194849&rd=1 

Travis X


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## veedubb67 (Jul 11, 2003)

Good Luck!


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## Jimmy B (Apr 19, 2000)

A fine kit at a decent price. Good luck.


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## beck (Oct 22, 2003)

man , i hope ya get it ! that'd be a terrific price on it too .
saw one a while back at a hobby shop and did the old , well , i'll decide later . started regreting on the way home went back the next week and ....gone . iirc it was around 60 $ aaarrgghh .
hb


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## JamesDFarrow (Sep 18, 1999)

Ooooooooooooooo! Places bid.

James (the snipper)  

Just kidding. Good luck on the auction.


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## guartho (May 4, 2004)

So, why'd you tell us about it if you don't want us to bid?


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## phrankenstign (Nov 29, 1999)

JamesDFarrow said:


> Ooooooooooooooo! Places bid.
> 
> James (the _*snipper*_)
> 
> Just kidding. Good luck on the auction.


 Although I know you build models and are probably very adept at snipping, I think you meant to call yourself a "sniper".


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## JamesDFarrow (Sep 18, 1999)

phrankenstign said:


> Although I know you build models and are probably very adept at snipping, I think you meant to call yourself a "sniper".


Yeah, should have been one p not two. LOL!

James


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## HARRY (Mar 23, 2000)

Oh man!I have always wanted that kit and now that I have tax refund in hand it's burnin a hole in my pocket!Gotta have it and gotta have it NOW.:devil: Naw just kidden.Good luck on it.


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## the Dabbler (Feb 17, 2005)

Well Xacto, since you've asked so nicely, I will withdraw my ridiculously high bid. I mean, I'm old, I won't need it long anyhow !
Really, Go for it ! GOOD LUCK !! :thumbsup:

Oh, and yell out when you get it so we can all applaud ! :wave:


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## DinoMike (Jan 1, 1970)

(bids $1000) :devil: 

Just kidding....


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## ClubTepes (Jul 31, 2002)

XactoHazzard said:


> If you guys love me you'll not bid on this kit... Well unless you really need it... As you all know I am Bowen phanatic and collector... This is one I need! So please have it in you heart to hope that I win this at a resonable price... I purchased some "grails this month so I'm low on cash, I would love to snag this puppy. Wish me luck!!!
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1192&item=5969194849&rd=1
> 
> Travis X


Ooops. Uh sorry. Maybe your bid is higher than mine.

I bid $596.37.


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

XactoHazzard said:


> If you guys love me you'll not bid on this kit...
> Travis X


Ya know, it's funny, Xac' - I didn't know this kit was even up for auction, and I didn't really want it anyway. But now that I know how *badly you want it... *:devil:

Now, now, I'm kidding - don't whimper like that. Best of luck! :thumbsup:


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## HARRY (Mar 23, 2000)

MMMMM!Less than 30 mins to go.Should I snipe or let it go?Just a little longer.........


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## Babaganoosh (Dec 16, 2004)

Just ended...I hope you're "scalavetta". If not, someone just got sniped.


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## JGG1701 (Nov 9, 2004)

Welllllllllllllllllllllllllllll ???


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## XactoHazzard (May 20, 2003)

I was the highest bidder until about 30 secs left... I hate that... And I looked at alot of this guys other purchases and he seems to be buying every kit on ebay and he snipes alot of them... It's like walking around at a Convention and seeing someone buy a kit that you wanted and getting it just as you saw it... Then finding out the deal they got!!! 

Oh well, maybe I'll get lucky and fing one at Chiller.

Travis


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## kit-junkie (Apr 8, 2005)

That sniping crap should be illegal. They need to figure out a way to stop it. I sold a few kits not too long ago and watched one get sniped. I was tempted to cancel the sale.


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## sbaxter (Jan 8, 2002)

kit-junkie said:


> That sniping crap should be illegal. They need to figure out a way to stop it. I sold a few kits not too long ago and watched one get sniped. I was tempted to cancel the sale.


First, how do you know someone didn't find the listing at the last moment and place a bid? Second, _bid the maximum amount you are willing to pay_. If you do that, it doesn't matter whether you get sniped or not. There's nothing magical about sniping that makes anyone more likely to win or lose a kit, other than that people _*don't*_* bid the maximum amount they are willing to pay*. If they did, then they would just have been outbid -- and who cares if it was at the last second or with two days to go if you _bid the maximum amount you're willing to pay_?

It is sour grapes to get anything more than disappointed at being sniped. You can't make it illegal without making timed auctions worthless. It just seems like "I wanted that and didn't get it, so they should make it illegal for anyone to beat me to the punch."

Qapla'

SSB


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## JGG1701 (Nov 9, 2004)

Geesh !
It's only a model !  
* Ducks and runs for cover *


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## CaptFrank (Jan 29, 2005)

> _It is sour grapes to get anything more than disappointed at being sniped_.


Sounds like someone who uses the technique!

Just kidding! :tongue: 


I was bidding on a model kit once, and at the last second, (literally!), I saw the price jump. I still won, but I was curious about the bid going up like that. When I reviewed the bid history, it turns out someone had tried to snipe me. I had a higher maximum bid, so I won anyway.


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## sbaxter (Jan 8, 2002)

CaptFrank said:


> Sounds like someone who uses the technique!


Yep! Because it works.


> someone had tried to snipe me. I had a higher maximum bid, so I won anyway.


Exactly my point; sniping doesn't guarantee a win because the person doing it has no idea what the existing maximum bid might be. Really, it is no different from placing a bid and then being away from the computer for the remainder of the time the auction runs. You're taking a chance you won't be outbid, and if someone does outbid you, then (financially) they wanted it more than you did.

I've _been_ sniped plenty of times, and that's just the way the mop flops and the ball bounces.

Qapla'

SSB


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## ChrisW (Jan 1, 1970)

Sorry you didn't get it Travis. There will be more.

Gotta agree with the comments. If you don't want to be sniped, bid higher. I've been sniped quite a number of times, but they weren't things I really, _really_ needed - just "nice to haves" at a good price.

BTW, Just got another Aurora JFK at a good price. Missing the flag and the flagpole is broken, both easy to replace. I have it MIB but have been wanting to build this kit again - I really botched it up as a kid and would like to do it justice now.


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

I've been a sniper and a snipee. All god's chilluns get's sniped.


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## John F (May 31, 2001)

I got sniped on a smoothy about a year ago, that by itself I could've lived with. The next day the seller emailed me saying that the winning bidder was refusing to pay for it, and offered it to me at my price, but by that time I had spent my budget on other kits and couldn't buy it.


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## kit-junkie (Apr 8, 2005)

sbaxter said:


> There's nothing magical about sniping that makes anyone more likely to win or lose a kit, other than that people _*don't*_* bid the maximum amount they are willing to pay*.


The "magical" thing about sniping is that, for the paid services anyway, they guarantee that your bid will be placed at the very last second of the auction using a computer to time the bid.

So I'll say then that if you're willing to pay a membership fee to a Bid Sniping service, your chances of winning increase. Why else would they be able to charge people for the service? Just my opinion but I think it's cheating. Like using a motorcycle in a foot race.

If it really doesn't give you any advantage, why don't you just post a high maximum bid? The auction will bid to your maximum automatically anyway. You don't need a sniper then...

I hope that you've gotten your money's worth out of the sniping server.


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## HARRY (Mar 23, 2000)

Sorry ya didn't win it Travis.I know it's happened to me alot.If I'am not at the computer to moniter it and to be able to rebid at the last minute I just chaulkit up to a loss and look for it again.Someones always gonna put another one up.I must have bid on Universal Monsters lunch box on 4 separate occasions til I finaly won one.Keep looking for another one.


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## sbaxter (Jan 8, 2002)

kit-junkie said:


> If it really doesn't give you any advantage, why don't you just post a high maximum bid?


It _does_ give you a _de facto_ advantage -- _because people tend not to bid the maximum amount they are willing to pay_. Most people try to hedge their bets a little and hope the price doesn't go any higher. Then they watch at the end and hope that if they are outbid in the waning moments, they'll be able to bid again before time runs out.


> I hope that you've gotten your money's worth out of the sniping server.


I've never used one. I rarely bid on anything unless I can be in front of the computer when the auction ends. I don't buy enough to justify paying anyone to place bids for me. I usually place my bid with 30-40 seconds left if possible, and try to be ready to confirm my bid at about the 20-second mark. I _do_ have a very fast connection, which helps a little -- but I've placed a number of bids successfully with under a minute to go on dial-up.

Considering it cheating is a little like being in a beauty pageant, not wearing makeup for whatever reason, and then getting upset that the other contestants do wear it -- presuming, of course, that the rules allow it.

Again, if someone is willing to pay more for an item than you are willing to pay, what does it matter if they bid with eight days left or eight seconds? The result is the same. They were willing to pay more than you were, so they win.

Qapla'

SSB


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## the Dabbler (Feb 17, 2005)

Condolences, "X",
I've lost a few myself lately like that. I do wonder though if placing "you're max. highest bid" very early works to your advantage. I've done that, and when the price was going up by a very little, it seems my bid kicked it up a lot faster, percentage-wise ? But, maybe someone else already had 'their' MHB in first ??
So, go kick the garbage can & try again tomorrow !!


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## Otto69 (Jan 2, 2004)

As a longtime ebayer I will simply say that, although I still snipe on occasion (manually), I really don't believe it helps anyone anymore. It's just instinct to old time ebayers. Basically people will pay what they want to pay, and whether they do it at the start or end of the auction doesn't matter much.

BTW, I just got outsniped on some fan Seaview source material about 15 minutes ago .


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## kit-junkie (Apr 8, 2005)

When I referred to "sniping" I was speaking in terms of the automated type, which is what I thought that the issue was.

My apologies to anyone who may have been offended by my comments. Manual "sniping" is, by all means, fair and I've done it myself a couple of times.

The subscription services bother the heck out of me. 

Sorry

K-J


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## Heavens Eagle (Jun 30, 2003)

I do sniping (the manual type) I do find that it can help save some money if I can be at the machine at auction end. I will just wait to bid and thus keep the bidding a little lower than it would be otherwise. One thing that helps is to run 2 windows with the page up. Place the bid I want on one and wait to confirm. I set the other window as the item page and do F5 refreshes to get the time down. I can usually do my bid with 2 or 3 seconds left. (It helps to have a 20" monitor with high res)


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## XactoHazzard (May 20, 2003)

I agrre with sbaxter, I also do the manual sniping from time to time... I was only stating that I was disappointed, I'm not gonna be against sniping it just gets my goat sometimes when you think you've won and then you refresh and BLAM... Gone.
If it's something I really NEED I put my max in and then check back later but if it's something that I want a deal on I try not to put the highest MAX in b/c then people just run the price up on ya trying to outbid you... Sometimes if your MAX is high but you don't enter it the other person thinks they are getting it cheap and then last minut you thow in your high bid... It's all in the nature of fun but I do get disappointed when I'm sniped twice in twenty minutes.

Travis


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## fluke (Feb 27, 2001)

*Sorry to hear about that X*  

SO.....If you really want the item....
*DO NOT PLACE A BID AT ALL!....*your only driving up the price and 

*SNIPE that suckah!* *Its an AUCTION!.. thats what you do!* ...*TO THE LAST SECOND! Just like a real auction.*

I know folks who have their PC clock set to the eBay clock for that reason alone.

It's not a matter of playing fair its a matter of luck, insight a good PC with high speed helps and HOW BAD YOU WANT IT or NEED IT?

Figure your MAX and punch it in at the last second....thats all.

Do your research and search all eBay options and entries.....some items are entered misspelled or just entered in the wrong catagory.

Last Saturday I got a 160.00 / 250.00 4 CH R/C Helicopter for 100.00 *with* shipping!.....GOTTA LUV EBAY! and *PayPal!* I quickly sold two items and so the Helocopter did not cost me a dime out of my checkings!


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## XactoHazzard (May 20, 2003)

Fluke, that's what I do... I never make a bid till the last 10 minutes of the auction... And I was just sniped that's all... I do feel I know "most" of the ebay tricks, I was just out sniped that's all.
It's all good, there is an old saying that when God closes a door, he opens a window... Now I am not say God cares about whether or not I get a model, that would be stupid... But I feel this quote applies, whenever you feel disappointment in the hobby something good always happens. I will always bid on kits I want and 1 out of 10 times I'll be sniped... I will find that kit somewhere at a price I am willing to pay, that's all.

Thanks guys for the discussion.

Travis


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