OPINION - SNIPING

Maybe it was the third period of the Canucks game last night?  Maybe it was the long day at work?  Maybe it was the alarm clock on my phone (in the voice of Louie CK......"Stupid phone!")?  Maybe it was the fact that I don't use sniping programs to do my ebay bidding?

At the end of the day though.....it's my dropping of the ball that cost me a chance to add another Linden card to the collection last night.

And it's still ticking me off.

It's a nice card......right?  Maybe not the best designed nameplate I've ever seen, but still.

So I had my eye on this card for the past few days leading up to the auction ending last night.  My habit these days has been to set the alarm on my phone for 5 minutes before the auction ends.  I then pop over to ebay and bid at the last moment (I don't bid early....I find I lose more than I win.....and on those that I do win, I pay more).

A solid system in my eyes.  That is until the alarm doesn't go off.

I knew this auction ended close to 10:00 last night.  I was watching the tail end of the Flames game and all of the sudden a jolt hit me.  I looked at my phone and had a bad feeling.  I zipped to the auction and noticed it had just ended.  It ended for the minimum bid (less than what I was willing to spend).

AAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

I even went so far as to e-mail the seller to apologize.  I had told him I was interested in the card and planned on bidding.

So the rest of the night I spent thinking about my auction bidding process.

Like I said, I don't use sniping programs.  I think it's just habit.  I also like to be in control of things.  I just don't trust a computer program to do my bidding for me.

But after last night's miss, I'm reconsidering.

I feel like there are a lot more bidders (especially in the card collecting hobby) using online sniping programs to do their last second bidding for them.  It eliminates having to keep a hawk's eye on each and every auction they want to bid on.

I don't bid on too many items (a few a week) and have never found the need for an assist.  That said, I can definitely recall a good 3-4 instances where "user error" has cost me a card for my collection.

Sniping programs just take an element of the chase out of the whole collecting process.  It would be as if somebody else is gathering cards for me.  What fun is that?  I like finding the items.  I like bidding on the items.  I like when I win the items.  And I like receiving the items.

I don't want this hobby to become any more automated than it is.

That said, it's going to sting a bit today knowing that I and I alone am responsible for letting a card slip by my grasp.

I blame John Tortorella and Mike Gillis.  Yeah.....that's it.


Do you use sniping programs?  What are your auction bidding methods?  Do they work for you?