A question on Gunbrokers "15" minute rual?

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scooter222	A question on Gunbrokers "15" minute rual?	Lead	[-]
Posts: 5045 (05/12/09 11:46 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Tags : None If this is OT then just tell me and delete it. But the Q is. Do you think it's fair or just adds 15 minutes more time for the bid and Gunbroker's profit to go up? Personally I feel it's a money making deal for GB. They say it benefits the bidders but I've never been to a auction that the "Going, going, GONE" goes for 15 minutes, then resets on the next bid. They claim it's to make up for computer "slowness" or problems. TUFF. Sit at your keyboard and bid if you want the item. If your internet connection is slow, 'Oh well". Opinions?
high speed cruise		#1	[-]
Posts: 2964 (05/13/09 12:11 AM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I've always liked the "15 minute reset" and wish all the online auction sites had it. hsc
scooter222		#2	[-]
Posts: 5047 (05/13/09 12:27 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Why? It's really not a auction in the normal sense. Just a open ended sale. There's no true end. Just a added 15 minutes. Last Edited By: scooter222 05/13/09 12:36 AM. Edited 1 times.
JTB1967		#3	[-]
Posts: 711 (05/13/09 02:19 AM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	It's good for the seller for sure. I read so many guys complain about being "sniped" at the last mintute, well the 15 minute rule sure prevents sniping.
zeebill		#4	[-]
Posts: 3576 (05/13/09 08:20 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I would say yeah to all of the above for sure. I am a sniper and at times when I was really getting radical about getting something I have been very successful at it to the chagrin of many I would think. There came about a service that through the use of some computer program could guarantee you the last winning bid. When that happened they instituted the 15 minute rule to prevent that, it did just that and the above mentioned aspects also came about as a side effect. Good for the seller and the auction and bad for bargain hunting snipers like me. Life goes on and I rarely buy anything off the auctions any more as a result. Action equals re-action I guess. Many people now on the boards have little knowledge of the Internet maybe 10 years ago and what things used to be like so they run in and participate regardless of cost or rules against them, better them than me I guess. Bill
Aubullet		#5	[-]
Posts: 1151 (05/13/09 11:55 AM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	A real live auction does not end by the clock, but rather by the absence of any more bids. In a real auction you can still put in a new bid after the second "going" but not after the "gone". Just think of the posted time for end of auction as the first "going" of a real slow speaking auctioneer who then takes 15 minutes to get around to saying "gone"! Now, as for whether I like it or not, I've never been a seller which is clearly who this set-up favors. Like zeebill, I have at times been very successful at getting real deals by last second sniping. I've also been outsniped on many a good deal and lost by one bid increment more often than I can remember, due to another sniper willing to spend a bit more, and logging it in just too late for me to see and counter. On the bad side, I have lost the ability to win auctions just by being there when it counted, and in some cases now cannot expect to walk away with getting such good deals, so I don't like the 15 minute rule on that basis at least. I was afterall quite successful without it! On the good side, there were many sellers who were starting to quite offering their wares because they felt they were not getting the value they deserved. So perhaps we are seeing more offerings because of the 15 minute rule. The 15 minute rule is really not unfair to anybody, but it obviously does favor the deep pockets, just like a real live auction, or for that matter just as does real life! So I guess for me the answer is that while I don't like it, I do understand it, but I certainly miss the old days on the sites that have changed over to it! I do still pick up the occasional bargain that just didn't interest anybody else as much I guess, but I do loose more often now, or pay a bit more than I used to as well. I still tend to bid at the last official minute, to minimize the amount of time the competition has to see and think about it, so I guess even in the new venue, old habits die hard!!!
high speed cruise		#6	[-]
Posts: 2965 (05/13/09 01:49 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I notice that only the "snipers" are angry. Too bad, so sad. hsc
usernamehasbeentaken		#7	[-]
Posts: 511 (05/13/09 09:38 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	+1 hsc when it comes to GB's auctions, I bid just before the 15 minute 'cutoff' I treat it as the actual end of the auction and never look back, second guess myself, or re-bid ya jus' gotta know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em... Bob
zeebill		#8	[-]
Posts: 3579 (05/13/09 09:42 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	As a sniper I am not mad just don't bid too much anymore and go to Auction Arms a lot more. Why do you think AA has fallen on hard times? The sellers have gone to GB because the system favors them. When was the last time you saw a Finned Remington M91 go for under $200 on the auctions? I just picked one up at a honey hole last week. I see no effort in sitting on ones posterior and bidding a ridiculous amount when with a little effort one can find a better buy elsewhere! That's all there is to it simple arithmetic and effort equal a better deal. Don't whine about spending time and money to find it when you are spending more money and sitting on your butt looking at computer and not knowing really what you are getting. Auctions are just time takers to me when I could be out getting around looking and meeting others who are also looking. Never know what you can get from someone you just met. I picked up a great 91/24 step barrel from a guy coming in the door of a rifle shop when I was going out for $125 about 3 years ago. Effort and persistence equals results! I used to make the effort on the auctions but things like the 15 minute rule spoiled the bidders chance to snipe and now I just look elsewhere. Not mad at all and frankly at my age it is probably better for me to be moving around and active anyway. Hey maybe the 15 minute rule makes me healthier who knows? 15 minutes= one way or the other! Bill
high speed cruise		#9	[-]
Posts: 2968 (05/14/09 12:38 AM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Like I said, looks like that rule gets peoples' danders up. hsc
Aubullet		#10	[-]
Posts: 1153 (05/14/09 01:05 AM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Angry? Not at all. Saddened? Perhaps a little. But anybody who doesn't snipe on any on-line auction that is set up to favor it, isn't thinking about the implications of their own exposure in bidding early, thus allowing everybody who comes along between their bid and the end of the auction to think about it and give it a try, thus needlessly driving the price up. Which is why sellers like the 15 minute rule, and I don't blame them! I don't know how many times I've seen someone put in a substantial hidden bid days before the end of an auction, only to see someone else come along and add bid after bid, driving up the final selling price, until they finally outbid the original bidder. Without that pre-existing incentive forcing the competition, the item may have sold at a much more reasonable rate. I've also seen the bidding wars between two or more interested parties starting hours or days before the auction is to end, continuously driving the price ever higher, and often taking it to levels neither bidder really wanted to go to, but they somehow seem to think that because they have bid on it, then it is now their personal property that must be defended with ever higher bids that far exceed what they really wanted to pay. Sniping is merely the act of putting in the highest bid that you are willing to pay, at the latest time that you can reasonably do so. If someone else has bid higher, they win, you lose, and so be it. What exactly is it that upsets people about this technique? It is logical, reasonable and in no way unfair to anybody, yet it seems to be met with an uncommon amount of vitriol, by those who don't seem to understand its basic premise. Personally, I'd be embarrassed to not do it, when it is an option!
Youngblood		#11	[-]
Posts: 1105 (05/14/09 08:39 AM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I've always liked the "15 minute reset" and wish all the online auction sites had it. when it comes to GB's auctions, I bid just before the 15 minute 'cutoff' I treat it as the actual end of the auction and never look back, second guess myself, or re-bid What they said. Kim
Aubullet		#12	[-]
Posts: 1154 (05/14/09 02:17 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	usernamehasbeentaken wrote: when it comes to GB's auctions, I bid just before the 15 minute 'cutoff' I treat it as the actual end of the auction and never look back, second guess myself, or re-bid That is exactly the definition of the sniping technique! Last Edited By: Aubullet 05/14/09 02:20 PM. Edited 1 times.
Youngblood		#13	[-]
Posts: 1106 (05/14/09 02:35 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	With one very important difference ...
gil		#14	[-]
Posts: 904 (05/14/09 03:20 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I don't even look at gunboards anymore because the straw purchaser/buddy can push the price up and up and up. You see lots of the same items coming up for bid after being "sold" and there is no rational for the relisting that I know of. the "sport" of bidding on auctions is gone and the likelyhood of getting a good deal likewise. My response of late when I even bother to bid on an item is set my upper end price, pitch my bid late in the auction and wait to see if I get it. I am not gonna get into a bidding war with an unkonw indidvidual over a rifle that I have no true idea of what the bore condition is. gil
Aubullet		#15	[-]
Posts: 1155 (05/14/09 03:37 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Youngblood wrote: With one very important difference ... No "real" difference if you never look back or re-bid.
usernamehasbeentaken		#16	[-]
Posts: 514 (05/14/09 03:47 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	gee...I've been a 'sniper' all these years, and never knew it I've been a baaad, baaad boy... Bob
Aubullet		#17	[-]
Posts: 1156 (05/14/09 05:09 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I still don't understand why some people consider putting in the highest bid you are willing to go with, as late in the auction as you can get it in, is in any way deemed a bad thing? Isn't any kind of auction always won by the last highest bidder? Somebody please educate me, what's the deal?
scooter222		#18	[-]
Posts: 5048 (05/14/09 07:24 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	All have valid points. Let me give you my example why I don't like it. I watched a auction for 5 days. Only had one bidder. So I put my bid in under the 15 minutes(I was high bid), knowing about the rule, and it reset. The other bidder waited to bid and it reset 15 minutes again. So between us, resetting the auction another 15 minutes each bid about 1 1/2 hours went by. Then a new bidder dropped in and placed a very high bid and won. If the "15 minute" rule wasn't there, like a normal auction , 1 1/2 hours wouldn't have passed because our bids would have been condensed and one of us would have would have placed our high bid or ran out of money in that closing time.. But the 15 minute rule dragged the auction out. I haven't been to any real auctions that had a 1 1/2 bidding on one item. Call it sour grapes but it just looks like a win/win for the seller and GB. Not the buyer.
Youngblood		#19	[-]
Posts: 1107 (05/14/09 08:11 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	The only sniping for which I don't particularly care is that done by what I refer to as "high-bid snipers" ... the ones who will drop an outrageously high bid in the last few second to guarantee a win, trusting that everyone else involved is bidding reasonably. O'course, sometimes you get lucky and witness 2 "high-bid snipers" on the same item and the "winner" ends up paying WAY more than the item is worth. <chuckle> I was lucky enough to see that just once ... IIRC, the "winner" bought a ~$200 item for, like, $400. I will sometimes snipe on eBay for an item that I really want/need, but usually just place my bid and walk away.
Youngblood		#20	[-]
Posts: 1108 (05/15/09 11:08 AM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I think that the reason a lot of folks look down upon "snipers" is because what most think of as an auction involves no time limit, only folks bidding for an item until one person takes it with the highest bid ... but the bidders have a moment to decide if they are willing to top that last bid ... a "sporting" head-to-head affair. By that understanding of what constitutes an auction, eBay and AA do not feature regular auctions. Perhaps they would be better described as time-limited auctions ... and because of that, the actual, important "auction" portion of the action often occurs as one or more bidders blindly pop higher bids in the final few seconds, hoping to outbid anyone else doing the same thing with no chance to rebid. Another reason why some folks don't care for "snipers" is that they don't understand or will not accept the fact that that strategy is forced upon folks in time-limited auctions ... so if you want/need the item up for bid, it may behoove you to drop a bid in the last seconds, otherwise ... <shrug>