Is sniping ethical? The term "sniping", when used in the auction industry, refers to the act of placing last second bids on Internet auction sites, thereby masking your interest until it is too late for other people to bid. If you are new to sniping, you might wish to read a more basic article first: please Top 10 Reasons to Use Sniping Services.

At BidSlammer.com, we know sniping well, and we feel that sellers definitely have good reason to dislike sniping. After all, if everybody used sniping services, then every item on auction sites would theoretically become a fixed-price listing. We even have to consider the fact that people might stop using auction sites entirely and start using other marketplaces, such as Amazon.com.

So why is sniping so popular? A recent poll by TIAS.com showed that approximately 75% of those polled approved of sniping. The rest either disliked sniping, or had no opinion.

What does eBay say about sniping?

We wrote to eBay and inquired their opinion of using sniping services. They said:

It is permissible to use eBay bidding utilities which place bids at the last second. Please note that eBay neither approves nor disapproves of the usage of these tools. You may use them at your own discretion.

Sniping services actually used to be illegal on eBay; it was banned in 1999, but so many users complained that they started to allow people to use sniping services again. We even spoke directly with the Senior Manager of Safe Harbor at the 2008 eBay Live show -- and he stated that sniping would continue to be allowed, as long as there is peace with the issue. Currently, eBay still does receive complaints about sniping, but they are few.

Let's take a look at the fundamentals of sniping and the issues that make this such a controversial topic.

Con's of sniping

Let's take a look at the down-side first. There are two primary complaints that sellers have about sniping:

1. It hurts sales. This topic is subject for debate; however, one simply cannot deny the fact that sniping totally removes the emotional over-bidding that most bidders experience while bidding. People using sniping services do not feel intimidated by other people's bids, because they never see them. As B.B. King would say, "The thrill is gone." Editor's note: One reader wrote, in response: "I, for one, have not noticed any decrease in prices paid. As long as there are sufficient non-snipers to make it interesting."
2. It shows poor sportsmanship. If you consider the auction bidding process to be a sport; sniping would definitely be considered to be cheating, and could essentially eliminate the sport altogether. If sniping were poker, then there would only be one round of betting on each hand -- and that's not a very fun game. ;-)

Pro's of sniping

Here are a few reasons for buyers and sellers to like sniping:

1. It saves the buyer time. Many snipers say that they would not buy on Internet auction sites if it were not for sniping services. Some people have become so addicted to the sniping service that they simply can't imagine buying on Internet auction sites without it.
2. The buyer doesn't forget to bid. Several snipe users claim that even if they didn't use the snipe service, they would still make every attempt to bid at the last second manually. These buyers also claimed to miss several of the items they wanted, because they forgot to set a reminder somewhere, or forgot to tie a string on their finger.
3. The buyer's bid has a better chance of making it. Some readers pointed out that they have 56K modems or poor internet connections. They have difficulty bidding at all, much less at the last second. "I live in a rural area," wrote a user, "it may be another 3-5 years before they'll offer high-speed access in my area. I got tired of losing items becuase I couldn't bid during the crucucial last five minutes. Sniping is my savior!"
4. The buyer buys more. If the sniping service is good, then you would be able to manage hundreds of items efficiently and effectively. Many of the bids that sellers receive on auctions would never have been, if it was not for sniping services.
5. Snipe bids are icing on the cake. If you accept the fact that snipers would not otherwise bid, then you can look at their bids as icing on the cake.
6. Sellers still get a bidding war (sort of). Even if the only bids that you received were snipes, eBay's bid-increment system would accept all bids at the last moment, and calculate and raise each bid increment accordingly.
7. Buyers aren't "stalked." Since your bids are public information, many folks might realize you are a sophisticated collector who does due diligence before placing bids. When you use sniping, you force the others to discover their own bargains. Editor's note: This is no longer a problem in 2008 onward, as eBay hides the bidder userid's during the auction.
8. Sniping just makes eBay easier! Most sellers use listing services to make their selling experience on eBay easier. There are at least 20 services available to help you sell on eBay. A sniping service is the logical counterpart to a listing service. It assists the buyer with completing full collections of items, which is something they could not otherwise due if the service was not available. A listing service allows you to spend more time with your family. Well, so does sniping.

Like most things in this world, eBay is subject to the 10%-90% rule, that is, 90% of eBay items are purchased by about 10% of its buyers. You have to consider that these "power buyers" will be using tools to automate their purchasing, and if those tools aren't available, buyers may find another tool to help them locate their items of interest.

We hope you enjoyed this article, and perhaps changed your opinion somewhat of sniping services for the better. Being a sniping service, naturally we are biased toward the positive, but we hope we have done a good job of explaining all the issues. If you are a serious eBay buyer, then you really need to do yourself a favor, and give sniping a try. This will increase the number of bids on eBay and generally result in and higher closing prices on eBay overall.

Article is sponsored by BidSlammer.com sniping service. For a free trial please Click here.