Hello all. I haad spotted this Optimus 1200 on one of the auction sites 2 weeeks ago. It had been converted to electricity, but fortunately looked as of no holes were drilled I could see. Im new to the foorum, still learning the ropes. My offerings to share had been somewhat dismal up to this point. No one had seemed to take interest, apparently thinking lantern was altered. I checked 5-6 times a day, no interest. I had set my bidpretty high, at the very top of my budget. At 12:30 last night when auction concluded, I started seeing bids. The price was ridiculously low, $28 U S. When I started seeing the bids, I jacked my maximum twice. I thought finally, a nice lantern to show the forum. I stayed right on it up to the end when of all times for the web to act up. I was devastated. But then I thought, I have done this very thing myself. Someone out there got a beautiful lantern. It was not in the stars for me. Unfortunately, in my desire to get the lantern, I made someone pay dearly to obtain it.
Saw that. Was attempting to place a bid but they escalated pretty fast and went well up above my price range $127 was the closed bid. Right now I’m trying to complete my 242 collection and my last purchase was a 242 A/B over stamped for $65 shipped no globe.
Unlucky, Rob, but as you say, you bid to the top of your budget and increased it twice more so someone just wanted the lantern more than you did and had a bit more cash to spend. It happens. Keep trying and eventually something nice will come your way. You could also try yard sales or whatever they're called over there. They're often a good place to pick up nice stuff cheaply. By the way, I wouldn't worry at all about having little to share. Nobody's expecting anything from anybody, at least not as far as I'm aware...
You will be amazed at how well the old eyeballs work. Colours like you haven't seen for years! I use a sniper program on eBay. Set your maximum bid and let it do the work in the last few seconds. eBay isn't a real auction anyways so it's not like you're using an unfair tactic. Best of all, you can cancel or change your bid amount--up or down--at any time. Great for that morning you look at the bid you entered at midnight previous, and go "What was I thinking?!" The fee they charge per item is a pittance, and only when you win an item. Mike.
Well, eBay is a real auction - just time limited i.e. the highest bid at a defined time wins. I agree, though about sniping programs - they're there for all to use - and as they say, 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!' There are (or, perhaps, were), free ones - I used Bidding Scheduler, although I haven't bid on anything for years now...
I’ve lost a few items to snipers, its annoying but hay ho, what the hell, that’s life. But I always reckon if you stop looking something just appears. So don’t narrow your sights, and the big picture will produce,
You didn't lose them to snipers - they were just prepared to pay more than you were. Just the same as a conventional auction, in actuality...
Snipers ... EBay auctions .. any online auction .. I never think like a last second Sniper .. they will want to outbid you on the last second ..and some of them do ... what they do not know is how much you are really prepared to pay .. so if I really want something it is always two bids ... 1st bid wins the bidding at that moment in time ... place your 2 nd bid immediately after the price at the fair price you are willing to pay much higher... this is secret and not known to anyone except you ..... you will often outbid everyone .. I really have won loads by this method and it works for me ... you outsnipe the siper , they want to win the auction for minimal costs ... unlucky for them
Y'know, using an auction sniping program is just another way of entering a bid - there's nothing personal in it and I don't think there's anything to be gained by thinking like that. When I sniped - either using a program or manually - I wasn't trying to get one over on someone else; I simply wanted to win the item and I used whatever means there were, within the rules, to achieve that aim. Consider a conventional auction at an auction house. There are several ways to enter a bid; you can be physically present, leave a bid on the books, bid by telephone, bid online or whatever. At the end of the auction, whoever bids the most wins - it's as simple as that. Would it be realistic for someone present at the auction to say it wasn't fair they didn't win because the winner bid by telephone? The bottom line is they were outbid - the means by which the winning bid was entered is completely irrelevant. It's just the same with an on-line auction...
I agree David ... I have used that software and..... TBH I like a bit of low animal cunning of which we are all endowed with ... evolved or taught by our elders or peers.. you can often read the spread of bidding bit like gambling I suppose. Online E bays and other auction site are suited for this.
You might out-snipe a person, but you won't manually out-snipe a sniping program. You simply cannot enter bids manually to compete with the multiple bids they make in the final split seconds. The final 1 second of an auction is sniper programs going against each other until things time out. The sniper program with the highest bid it can enter wins. And even time haunts the sniper programs. It would be a logistical nightmare for eBay to use the soft-close system you see used by so many online auction house, but it would be interesting to see the auction fever take hold when things sometimes do get personal! Mike.
Was it just a regular Optimus 1200 converted to electricity or was it a factory electrified Optimus 1200-12v? Base-camp still have those for sale new.
I've done it tens, maybe even hundreds of times. You know when auction end is so just set up your bid in the last couple of minutes previous to that, then click to enter the bid with 7 seconds to go. It's easy. Your bid goes in with all the other snipe bids and whoever has bid the most wins. Bidding programs are usually set to enter a bid 7 seconds before the end of the auction. I'm not aware that they can enter bids in the last split seconds because it takes time to transmit the bid over the internet - it's not instantaneous. That's why they default to entering bids 7 seconds before auction end - it gives time for the bid to travel through the various servers across up to half the world. You can change your bid entry time but obviously 7 seconds is the best compromise - enter the bid too late and it might not get there; enter it too early and someone else's bid may arrive after yours and beat you...
All I know is my sniping program continues to bid above any other bids until it hits the maximum I've entered. If you bid with 7 seconds to go, or even 3 seconds to go, it will proxy bid above your amount. And it will continue to do that until it reaches my maximum amount if it needs to to top any other sniper bids. That is what I mean by continually bidding to the last fractions of a second possible if need be to top another sniper's bid. Mike.
It was a real Optimus. It had several photos. Fortunately, the person doing the conversion simply removed the inner casing or removed the mixing tube from it. A cheap candalabra base was mounted to the hole where mixing tube would have been. It was a poor representation at best.
In my retirement I have had time to reflect back on the dog eat dog world of trading. I had decicded to tread more softly. Until I lost, I never felt the remorse I may have caused others. Maybe I shouldnt feel that way. Ive never used a sniping program, but have studied the data transmission rate at any given time. I have nailed dozens of last minute auctions manually.I tend to gravitate more to unatractive offerings now. After all, fettling is half the fun.
On the same site, I did see a "fake" . Close inspection of the pictures revealed a pump knob that was glued to the fount. No barrel fitting under knob. I started to bid on it strictly for the reflector hat that did look real ( notches for handle). There was a bidding war on that one, poor guys.
Mike, you're confusing the two ends of the bidding process. All an auction sniping program does is enter your bid a pre-determined number of seconds before auction end. That's it, no more, done, finished. Once it's sent your bid on its way its job is complete. The rest of what you see and describe with continued bidding etc. until your bid amount is used up is actually the on-line auction site e.g. eBay, managing your and all the other bids it receives right up until auction end. Hope that helps...
EBay is eBay... bid, right? I put up my top amount I will pay then I say, "hell with it, this is all I'm going to pay and no more!" Then I set back and either lose it or win it! I know what this sniper BS is but.... no matter how you slice baloney, it's still baloney! It's a bid, period. Your full amount is what they will nibble away at. I have to admit I've lost more doing this than I've won. That's the name of the game. Okay, off the soapbox, back to reality. lol
I'm with you. Won one today on my exact maximum bid, having left it alone. I put on my highest bid and let it run, if somebody values it, and has more cash they will win f they bid.
Yes, that makes sense David, that the eBay process takes over to up the bids after the sniper program bids. As a mostly seller, occasional buyer, it is always fun to watch bidders slowly pick away at each other trying to find out each other's max amount. Better yet are the bidders trying to prove who has the biggest...wallet, and hopscotch all over each other for days. Mike.
I agree, John. It was gratifying when I 'won' but only because the item was mine, not because I'd got one-up on others. In the good old, bad old days on eBay, when you could tell who you were up against, it wasn't unusual for me to stop bidding if I thought the item was better in someone else's collection than mine...
