The point of proxy bidding is to enter your highest amount you're willing to pay for the item one time and if at the end of the auction, you still have the highest price, you win. That's not how it works in reality. When most people bid, they don't enter they're actual max amount they're willing to pay. When they're are outbid, they just go back and enter a higher "max bid." That totally defeats the purpose of proxy bidding. I snipe for 2 reasons:
If I'm up against someone (say the person with the current high bid) and I outbid them, they might come back and bid more just to win the auction. So if I wait until they're 10 seconds left, they won't have the opportunity to come back and bid more.
If I'm the person that gets outbid: to keep me from bidding higher just for the sake of winning the auction.
So, if people would enter they're actual max bid (the amount that it's worth to them) toward the beginning of the auction, or the first time they bid, proxy bidding would work great. People don't get a better deal on an item for bidding less than they're willing to pay and going back to bid more.
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I snipe
Posted by: hosh on January 26, 2005 08:42 AMSo, if people would enter they're actual max bid (the amount that it's worth to them) toward the beginning of the auction, or the first time they bid, proxy bidding would work great. People don't get a better deal on an item for bidding less than they're willing to pay and going back to bid more.
My $0.02
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