Dave, You'll probably find that e-bay own the software development companies that have produced the sniping software (like they now own Paypal). Well, at the very least the sniping software has had to become a paid-up developer, so e-bay is licensing technology (or capability) to them. We certainly won't see an anti-sniping feature on e-bay in the near future.
As for sites that do have one (such as sold.com.au) it is a real pain in the arse. Just when you think you have won the auction, it extends. I was bidding on a camera right up until the last seconds of an auction once, and thought I had won. Once I stopped doing cartwheels down the hall (yeah, it would have been cheap), I realised the auction was still going, and I was now way off the mark. It ended up running for 27 minutes longer (and more importantly for the vendor 600.00 higher) than it was supposed too. The whole reason e-bay works, is you know when it ends, and how much you want to pay. If you get sniped by someone prepared to spend more money, then so be it. The other style of auction suckers you in to keep bidding (much like a live auction). I prefer e-bay, and will continue to buy and sell with it. Hopefully they don't change it too much. Cheers Shaun Canning PhD Student Archaeology Department La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia, 3086. e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: 0414-967 644 -----Original Message----- From: David A. Mann [mailto:pooky@;caverock.net.nz] Sent: Wednesday, November 06, 2002 5:18 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: As Close As It Gets Ken Archer wrote: > I sniped this nice piece of glass with one (1) second to go. This is as > close as I can do it. I am surprised that Ebay hasn't put an anti-sniping feature. An auction site in NZ (trademe.co.nz) has such a feature: any bids placed in the last 5 minutes cause the auction to automatically extend. Good for the sellers but can be a bit frustrating for the bargain-hunters (I missed out on a nice G3 powermac because of it). Cheers, - Dave http://www.digistar.com/~dmann/
