Hi. Here's a question about Item # 400297790314.

I set my snipe at over $6000 at 6 seconds. Ebay says I was the highest bidder at $2250. I don't know what the reserve price was set at. (Is there a way for me to know?)

In the case of auctions which have a low "start" price and a high "reserve" price, is more time needed for the myibidder to reach the highest snipe bid? Or, was there some other problem?

Thank you for your excellent support!

If you check the status of the snipe, you will see the following:
"Reserve not met"

That means that the reserve price is higher than your snipe. It's not a problem, that's how seller decided to list his/her listing by not willing to sell at the price you sniped.
If your snipe would be equal or higher than the reserve price, you would win the auction at reserve price level automatically (assuming nobody bid higher).
And no, you can't see the reserve price unless your bid is higher. Only seller knows it.

P.S.: Some sellers may wish to negotiate even when reserve not met, so if you like this auction, then you can contact the seller and try your luck.

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Last edited on Fri May 25, 2012 12:17 AM.

Yes, I understand that my bid was lower than the reserve. However, the snipe was set at 6500, but it only bid up to 2250. Does this mean that the myibay bidder will only bid up to the highest bid IFF (IF and only IF) the snipe is higher than the "reserve", and otherwise it only bids at the next highest bid increment? If so, that is very clever.

No, it bid whatever you set. You can check the bid history to see your actual bid.
It snipes once and it snipes exact amount you set. It has no way to know what's the reserve price, and there is no point to bid one increment only if you set a different snipe amount.

Hmm... My snipe was set at $6500. This is what happened:
Bidder Bid Amount Bid Time
mrlovt( 149) US $2,550.00 May-24-12 14:34:58 PDT
o***i( 45) US $2,500.00 May-24-12 10:12:05 PDT
n***2( 6 ) US $1,000.00 May-24-12 12:47:50 PDT
n***2( 6 ) US $700.00 May-24-12 12:47:36 PDT
n***2( 6 ) US $500.00 May-24-12 08:52:18 PDT
Starting Price US $500.00 May-14-12 14:35:04 PDT

For a snipe at $6500, is that correct?

I guess eBay does not show it anymore. If you have notification emails enabled, you can see your maximum bid in the email from eBay.

Item #: 270981352150
My snipe was set at: $9100
The bidder placed my highest bid at: $4050.01

I receive all notification e-mails. They confirm my highest bid:
Item number: 270981352150
Current bid: $4,050.01
Buy it now price: $18,895.00
Your maximum bid: $9,100.00

Shouldn't it place a $9100 bid, since obviously the 4,050 bid didn't meet the reserve? Or, does the reserve have to be met before the myibay bidder will work? I'm sorry to be a bother, I just really want to understand this.

You see the snipe as "Your maximum bid".
If the reserve is not met, that means your snipe was lower than reserve.

You can still contact the seller and find out what's the reserve price. Some sellers will share this information.

Thank you for your patience.

OK, I think I understand what happens: It proposes my maximum bid at 9100, but the reserve was 9500 (for example), so it only registers on Ebay as one bid increment higher than the previous bidder, which in this case was 4000, leaving me with a 4050 bid on record. That's interesting and unexpected to me.

I guess I don't understand why it wouldn't register as a 9100 bid, just for the sake of the next guy who might want to bid higher than that. I'm sure Ebay has its reasons, but that is counter-intuitive. Perhaps it hampers shill bidding.

Thanks for the tip about asking what the reserve price is. I didn't think they would tell me, but they did. Of course it was so close to the buy it now price that it didn't matter!

I'm glad you got it figured out after all.
Thanks for your follow up and good luck sniping!

Assume the current bid is $5 and the hidden reserve (Seller won't tell) is for $50. If my snipe is for $75 will ibidder try to snipe it at $6 and I'll lose the item even though I'm willing to go higher than the reserve?

The sniper will bid $75 because this is what you set.
If nobody else bid, you will win it at $50 (reserve price).