I don’t mind snipe bidding but I am against programs that do it for you. It feels like cheating to me. I know almost everyone does it and nothing will ever come of my complaining but I set literal alarms for when items are ending. Maybe some last minute research as a refresher then I decide if I want to bid and hit my bid at 2 seconds left. The only times this could be an issue (the manual way) is if multiple items a person is interested in are ending around the same time or the user doesn’t have 100% confidence in their internet connection. I also enjoy seeing auctions end and adding the sale to my brain comps.

Snipe bidding offsets the risk of being shilled by a$$holes with single digit feedback who simply see a max bid is set and then run it up to the max. I usually place a holder bid to give myself a chance to follow and then manually submit a bid with a few seconds left. Some may have a problem with it, but I'm not interested in paying more than necessary (or more than it's worth) for PC purposes. At least at an in person auction the shills are easy to identify and the auctioneer can put it down quickly if they are reputable. The online auctioneers don't give a crap about the buyer or seller.

Another way to frame it is best and final offer at auction close. There is nothing preventing others from doing the same. Extended bidding increases the potential for shilling depending on the time the auction is Extended. When I watch auctions with and without Extended bidding it seems all is generally quiet until near the end in the last 5 minutes for popular items. Extended bidding seems to be a product of and for people who were never taught to lose because everyone deserves a trophy.

Mike,

The only people that extended bidding helps is sellers. I won't bother bidding on eBay anymore. I never did snipe bidding and I do have an issue with it but I don't think that warrants a death sentence. I've been buying less expensive cards because I have no choice. Gas is $6 a gallon here. Imo, the economy will have an affect on the hobby soon enough. The upcoming MLB lockout will definitely hurt ultra modern prices also. Everything is cyclical. A major correction is only natural because prices cannot continue to skyrocket forever.

I do as Eric suggested, I will put in a just above minimum bid, so I don't forget about the auction, or it ends at a weird time. Then if there is action, I will go on just before it ends and try to win with a bid in the last few seconds. I will admit this results in mixed results, getting outbid in the last seconds, but I've also gotten some greats deals this way.

Ive been snipe bidding for decades. Manually. Takes any emotion out of the process. I'll typically use opening bid to mark most but if they are close to comps, I'll wait.

As noted earlier in that videos comment section as a pro-sniper (I noted I place 100-125+ bids, mostly in DCSports87 per week and win about 30%), I was called an "angle shooter", "a cheat", "a piece of crap" and that I sucked. What do you want me to do? Sit there and wait til' four seconds left and place a bid? What if it ends at 5 A.M? What if DCSports87 has multiple items ending within seconds? Placing one bid and leaving is a terrible strategy. Anyone can snipe and why people don't is beyond me. If extended bidding is enforced, I will stick to COMC and card shows for my pickups. Attack me ya lunatics!

I don't like automated sniping but manually bidding in the last few seconds is fine. I usually leave a low bid to remind myself that this thing is for sale, sometimes I forget and still win. Extended bidding will be beneficial to sellers and it's like an actual auction: no auction house ever ends bidding at 8:00pm just because that's the time they set, they let all bids come in and then yell "going once...". Also I've been the only watcher and bidder on an item only to have it sniped at the zero second mark and I hate that.

You set a maximum bid and don't need to be online at the end. One distraction and you miss bidding. 90%+ of auctions finish while I am at work. Multiple auctions could finish within seconds and you can't bid on both. Bidding early and someone will try to bid you up, just like what will happen or has been happening with Ebay extended bidding. I have to be happy with what I can get now before it comes in. Example of snipe bidding with extended bidding. I bid a bit about 230, which was what I was expecting it would go for with a few seconds left, then extended bidding took it up over 750. Same with another where a card had sat for months at 350. Someone buys it then another goes on auction and it goes for 800 dragged up by extended bidding.

another factor you didn't mention is if you have other auctions that you failed to win, you could in theory move some of your "budget" over to a card still active