Posted by: Anonymous Coward
on January 25, 2005 11:22 PM
Just because you're WILLING to pay $20 for an item doesn't mean you WANT to pay the maximum it's worth to you. Say Bidder X (second cousin of Racer X) has a max of $18, and the price is currently at $5. At 1 second before auction close, you put in your bid of $20. Since the current price is $5, your bid goes in at $5.25 just before the closing bell, preventing Bidder X's bid proxy from increasing the price. Either way you win the auction, but this way you win at a lower cost.
Of course, if your maximum bid was $6, it might be considered unethical to win the bid by timing rather than higher price... but since you and Bidder X don't know each other's maximum, you can only speculate as to who was truly willing to pay more.
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Re:Why snipe?
Posted by: Anonymous Coward on January 25, 2005 11:22 PMOf course, if your maximum bid was $6, it might be considered unethical to win the bid by timing rather than higher price... but since you and Bidder X don't know each other's maximum, you can only speculate as to who was truly willing to pay more.
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