Tutorial
Introduction:
If you have a question on how to get started, or how to use one of the more advanced functions of EZ sniper, you will find the answer here. Please read through this information before emailing us. These pages contain answers to thousands of questions on how to use our service that have been asked over the past several years. Problems with the site or service are addressed on the
Troubleshooting pages.
Here are the topics you will find in the Tutorial:
- Bidding
Bidding is core to our business and such a large topic, we have divided the subject into these headings. Click the heading to get more information on:
More on Bidding
How do I bid in international currencies?
First, make note of the currency of the auction, and value your bid in the currency of the auction. Our auction sniper makes no currency conversions. So, if the auction is in USD's, your bid should be valued in US dollars. If the auction is in GBP's, value your bid in British pounds. The currency of the auction is in bold type. Don't be confused by the conversion in smaller type that eBay provides. It is only there as courtesy to help you value your bid. Do not enter any other characters other the numbers of your bid and a single decimal. Do not enter $'s, �'s, �'s, €'s, or any other currency-related characters. Do not enter a comma anywhere in the number, even if bidding in Euros. They will result in errors in your eBay bidding. Enter only numbers and a single decimal in the appropriate place. Confirm your bid is correct in the listing that appears immediately after you click the
'Snipe!' button. Good luck with your bid.
How do I edit a bid?
Once you have placed a bid, a listing will appear on the
'My Auction' page. This listing will include the information on the auction including your bid amount. On the left side of each pending bid there will be an
'Change Bid' button. Click that button to change your bid on the interface that appears. Be sure to do this before the last six minutes of the auction. If you don't edit your bid earlier than six minutes before the end of the auction, your bid will not be changed.
How do I delete a bid?
Once you have placed at bid, it will appear on your list of pending auctions. There is a
'Delete' button on the right side of each pending bid. Click that button to eliminate your bid on that auction. Be sure to do this before the last six minutes of the auction. If you don't delete it earlier than six minutes before the end of the auction, your bid will not be deleted.
Contingency Bidding
Contingency Bidding is an easy way to manage your bid sniping on more than one item, when you only want to win one of those items. This feature is a selectable function that automatically cancels a designated bid when you win an earlier auction with our sniper service. You generally engage the Contingency Bidding feature on the
'add interface' where you add your snipe to our database. However, you may also do this later by clicking the
'Change Bid' button on the auction listing in your list of pending snipes. On either the
'add interface' or the
'Change Bid' interface, there is a dropdown list of all the auctions you are sniping. Just select the auction you want the bid you are adding to be contingent upon from that list. Be sure you make the later auction contingent on the earlier auction. If you win the earlier auction, our eBay sniper automatically cancels your bid on the second auction, and any other selected auctions. Of course, you can cancel any pending bid manually at any time.
This feature is a versatile little piece of bidding software. Very often, users bidding on several similar items will daisy chain their snipes together so only one auction is won. To set this up, make bidding on auction B contingent on losing auction A. Make bidding on auction C contingent on losing B. And so on. If you win any of these auctions along the way, all subsequent bids will be canceled.
Contingency Bidding may sound a little confusing, but our sniper system will warn you if you are mistakenly making an earlier auction contingent on a later auction. All contingency bidding must be set up with the later snipe contingent on the earlier snipe. Also, auctions must be fifteen minutes apart for this function to work. If they are not, the sniper will warn you.
What is a 'bidding increment'?
In order for your bid to be accepted by eBay, it must be at least a certain amount above the previous high bid. If it is not, your bid will not be accepted, even if it is more than the current high bid. eBay calls these "minimum bid increments". Your bid must be equal to, or exceed, the 'minimum bid increment'. If it is not, you will receive a
'BID TOO LOW' response from eBay.
The increments increase as the level of bidding increases, and there are different increments for each currency. Here are eBay's bidding increments for several currencies:
For USD's
For GBP's
For EUR's
For AUD's
For CAD's
What is the bidding interval, and how do I change it?
The bidding interval is the gap between when your bid is submitted and the end of the auction. The default is 5 seconds, but this interval is adjustable by the user on his
My Account page. Our system will also adjust your bidding interval automatically responding to loads on our system, the internet and eBay. Use this setting to time your bid, and a shorter interval is not always the best strategy. Check out our
Bidding Strategy page for advice on the best bidding technique for you.
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