Quote:
Originally Posted by FromBearCreek
Can't happen on GunBroker. They use a 15-minute rule that precludes end-of-auction sniping.
I use GunBroker for buying and selling; never have had a problem. |
That is what I was talking about. That makes it more like a true auction (i.e., open auction) where everybody has the ability to enter a bid before the gavel drops. E-bay and Auction Arms are more like silent auctions where everybody drops their bid amounts (via a sniping program) into the box and after the auction closes the bids are reviewed and the highest one wins. I've participated in both open auctions and silent auctions and both are fine. You just have to understand how they work.
Technically, E-bay isn't a silent auction, but with all the sniping that goes on in the last couple of seconds that is usually how it ends up.
With e-bay, the reason I hate entering my maximum bid before the end of the auciton is that somebody always has to come along and test it. They enter what they are initially willing to pay and don't beat me. So, what do they do next? They enter another $10 to see if that will beat me. Nope. Then what? Another $10. Still don't beat me. Then what? You guessed it, another $10. So, it ends up costing me more than just dropping that final number in on the auction with 4 seconds left. No time for me to spend another $40 to $50 above what I was willing to spend and likewise no time for somebody to ratchet up the price another $40 to $50 on me if I am the high bidder.