Let me ask you this...Since it's clear that snipe programs are not good for sellers....why is it that so many sellers are using them?

The snipe that bought my whinning about snipe programs this time was done by a regular ebay seller. I'm trying to figure out why a seller would want to perpetuate the whole thing and to make others want to snipe.

Don't they run the risk of pissing off other chip buyers, which could lead those buyers to not want to bid on the auctions of the snipper/seller? I would think so. Now don't get me wrong, I'm talking about snipper programs. I'm not talking about people that just put in a bid in the last minute. I'm talking about the 5 second snipper.

For a regular seller to use a snipper program...wouldn't he also be making others get frustrated and then resort to using the snipper programs? And isn't there an awfully good chance that those people will use them on his auctions? I think the answer is yes. Snipper programs are not good for the seller. They prevent the auction from running up...maybe just a fair selling price.

Think about this possibility as a seller:

You put a chip up fro auction at a below value starting bid to promote interest. You get a first bidder at the minimum bid. Then nothing until the last 3-5 seconds where one or even two snippers go for it. Being only 5 seconds....will the auction ever reach it's full potential? I've been told that some snippers with T1 lines set it for 3 seconds, while others use 5 seconds.

How many of us have auctioned chips that were sold way below a respectable value because of snipping? I think a lot.

I'm not stupid...I know I could get the snipper program and join the ranks. I even looked into it a while ago after being snipped a a few times in a row in one day. But I think thats a bad thing to do. Especially if I want to be selling chips on Ebay. I dont want to tick people off by snipping them. There are too many people i think of as friends here, and i think sniping them would make them feel anything but good. So i decided not to use a snipper program. That doesnt mean i wont try to do some bidding in the final minute. I will.

So do we go as radical as to boycott the auctions of sellers that we know use the snipper programs?? Do we boycott the auctions of sellers that have personally snipped us? Perhaps.

I just don't like seeing the bloodthirsty side to the hobby. It goes against my feeling of commerodery that the chipboard tries to perpetuate. Have we watched too many Carrot Top commercials for AT&T?? Is the potential for alienating fellow chippers really worth it to "Saving A Buck or Two?" I think not.

So...the two things i see...the result of the snipper programs....auctions finish at lower values, and other bidders get ticker off. And of course somebody gets a chip a few dollars cheaper.
Ok, I've rambled on enough about that.

Now...to the person that annonymously sent the email to me calling me names and insulting me because I whine about being snipped: You loose touch with the purpose of the board. I'm disappointed at the smallness of the gutless person that would resort to such things.