SnipeSwipe eBay Sniper: Frequently Asked Questions

SnipeSwipe: Frequently Asked Questions

Our high speed servers automatically place your eBay bid with seconds left in the auction. We're so confident that you'll love using SnipeSwipe to bid on eBay, that every eBay user can try it free with no sign-up. Simply enter the eBay item number on our main site, and start sniping.

Why should I snipe?

Using SnipeSwipe

Subscriptions and Payment

Q. What is eBay Sniping?

A. "eBay sniping" means to place your bid in the last closing seconds of an auction, so that no one has enough time to respond to your bid.

Q. What is Snipe Swipe?

A. Snipe Swipe is a service that places bids on eBay to save you time and money. By enabling you to bid during the last seconds of an auction, Snipe Swipe increases the percentage of auctions that you will win. By hiding your interest in an item until it is too late for others to bid, you win the item for less money.

Q. What is the advantage of sniping? Doesn't eBay use a proxy bidding system?

A. When you bid at the last second, no one has time to respond to your bid. It doesn't mean that you will always win an auction just because you snipe it. The truth is that most people rarely know what the maximum amount they are willing to pay for something is. Maybe you are really willing to pay $50.50 for something you thought $50 was your max, if it means the difference between getting it now or not. Even if you know exactly what your maximum price is, that doesn't mean that other users do. A lot of people will wait till a few minutes before an auction is over, and decide if they are willing to pay a few bucks more than the listed price to win something. With sniping, you don't give people that opportunity.

Sniping eliminates bidding wars, often saving you several percent of the auction's closing price. Sniping will also increase the percentage of auctions that you win, saving you time. This Harvard economics paper can explain the advantages of sniping in more depth.

Q. Why should I choose Snipe Swipe over other sniping services?

A. SnipeSwipe is easy to use, and an extremely reliable way to snipe eBay auctions.

Many sniping programs that you can download from the Internet are obsolete, meaning that they no longer work with eBay. Often, you won't find that out until it is too late. Our system, on the other hand, is constantly being updated. Sniping from your home computer is extremely unreliable because your internet connection may be slow, or your computer can freeze during those
last crucial seconds. Our bid-placing system is spread across multiple server machines on several high-speed networks, all synched to eBay time, and all backed up with a UPS. We understand that it is impossible to guarantee 100% uptime for a single server machine. However, our aim is to never miss a snipe.

We do not take your personal information or give your bid statistics to advertisers. We do not require you to join anything or download any programs.

Q. Is sniping illegal, against eBay policy, fraud, or dishonest?

A. No. Sniping is 100% allowed according to eBay policy. eBay's help center found here, lists sniping as one of the few complaints they specifically will not investigate. Section 7 of eBay's privacy policy found here, states that you can share your password with a third party if you choose to.

Q. How do I get started?

A. Your first snipe is free. Just enter the item number that you want to snipe, and then enter your maximum bid. There is no sign-up. It's that easy. If you intend to snipe a lot of things, we recommend using our "QuickSnipe" feature.

Q. When is my bid placed?

A. Your bid is placed electronically within the last few seconds of the auction. Our bidding programs can place your bid faster than a human is able to bid.

Q. Can I really try it for free?

A. SnipeSwipe is absolutely free to try with no sign-up required. Every eBay user is allowed 1 free snipe. We are confident that once you see how much time and money SnipeSwipe can save you, you won't want to bid on eBay any other way.

Q. Can I cancel my bid?

A. Yes. You can cancel at any time prior to the last few seconds of the auction. See this feature under “My Snipes”.

Q. What do I need in order to place a bid with Snipe Swipe?

A. All you need is a valid eBay account and snipe points.

Q. Why do you need my eBay login name and password?

A. We record the bid you wish to place and place it in your name at the very end of the auction, as if you were placing it yourself.

Q. What is QuickSnipe?

A. QuickSnipe is a feature that allows you to snipe while surfing eBay. It enables you to snipe without first visiting SnipeSwipe.com. It is a very simple add-on to Internet Explorer's right-click menu.

Q. Is my eBay login name and password secure?

A. We do everything possible to protect your login and password. We provide you the option of using an SSL connection. SSL provides an encrypted link between our server and your browser to ensure the highest level of transaction security. For a more detailed description of our protocol, read our Privacy Policy.

Q. What are snipe points?

A. One snipe point lets you win $1 worth of eBay merchandise through SnipeSwipe. If you want to snipe $238 on an item, you must have 238 snipe points with SnipeSwipe. We put the required snipe points on hold in your account until the auction of over, and charge you points only if you win the auction.

Q. Do I pay if I lose an auction?

A. No, we only charge you points if you win the auction.

Q. My bid was higher than the final selling price, but my bid doesn't even show up in the bid history. Why?

A. eBay's bidding system involves preset bid increments. When the price of an item is in a certain range, your bid must be higher than the current bid by the bid increment amount. Here's an example: The current price of an item is $3.77. According to eBay's chart of bid increments, the item is in the $1.00-$4.99 range, having a bid increment of $0.25. Your bid must be at least the current price ($3.77) plus the bid increment ($0.25). $4.02 is the minimum that you could bid.

Q. The final price of the item is the same as my bid. Why didn't I win?

A. If you are bidding against another bidder's maximum bid, you must enter a bid that is higher than their maximum, plus one cent. For example: If the current price of an item is $10, but that bidder has a maximum of $10.50, even though the bid increment is $0.50 for an item in this price range, you must bid at least $10.51 in order to be the high bidder on the item.

Q. If I place a snipe on an item, can I change the amount of my maximum bid at a later time?

A. Yes. Any time you place a new snipe on an item for which you have already entered a snipe, we replace the old maximum bid amount with your new maximum bid. You can either raise or lower your maximum bid on an item at any time prior to the last 30 seconds of the auction.

Q. Does my computer need to be on and/or online for SnipeSwipe to place my snipe?

A. No. SnipeSwipe operates on its own system and never interacts with your computer in order to place a snipe. This is an example of why SnipeSwipe can present an advantage for people who have slow internet connections or people who do not want to leave their computer on late at night, waiting for an auction to end.

Q. I just purchased snipe points, but my account shows that I have zero. What do I do?

A. Go back to and check the details of your PayPal payment to SnipeSwipe. The points are credited to the eBay username that you entered when you purchased the points. The eBay username you entered can be found under "Custom Number" in the details of your payment. If you entered an incorrect eBay username, contact us and we will credit your points to the correct username. If you are a subscriber, check to see that you have made the current month's subscription payment. In addition, if you pay us with an eCheck, we will not credit your bidpoints until the eCheck has cleared. If all else fails, contact us via email.

Q. Can I use SnipeSwipe with a Macintosh computer?

A. Yes. Because SnipeSwipe is accessed via the internet, all you need is a web browser to place and manage your snipes.

Q. What are Email Alerts?

A. Email alerts are emails which notify you if, during the course of an auction, your maximum bid is exceeded. These alerts are sent to you before the auction is over so that you will have time to increase your bid, should you choose to do so. If you are outbid on an item before the end of the auction, the item will be listed in "My Snipes" with a status of "Outbid" and will be highlighted in green. If you choose to sign up for email alerts, we will not use your email address for anything other than email alerts. If your bid is exceeded during the last hour of the auction, SnipeSwipe may not have time to respond to you with an email, due to the volume of bids we must check.

Q. Can I snipe an item in a foreign currency?

A. Yes. You must enter your maximum bid in the currency of the auction. This means that if the auction is in GBP, you must enter your snipeswipe bid in GBP. We do not do any kind of currency adjustment on your bid. When the auction is over, if you won the auction, we look for the final price in USD. Whenever an auction is in a currency other than USD, eBay automatically calculates the USD equivalent. Since snipe points are purchased at a certain value in $USD, we subtract points as if you had been bidding in $USD.

Q. How do I cancel my subscription?

A. Login to your PayPal account. Find the transaction with SnipeSwipe marked "Subscription Creation". Click on the "Details" link. In the details of the subscription creation, there is a button labelled "Cancel Subscription". Click on that button and follow the instructions given by PayPal.

Q. Is the subscription recurring?

A. Yes. It is a monthly subscription that is recurring, but can be cancelled at any time with no fee through your PayPal account.

Q. I changed by eBay username, how do I change my subscription?

A. Because your subscription is for a particular username, you will need to cancel your old subscription and sign up for a new subscription with your new username. After you cancel and sign up again, send us an email at customercare@snipeswipe.com and we will update your account and refund the monthly fee associated with your new subscription sign up.

Q. I had a subscription, but now I want to switch to using points. What do I do?

A. You will need to cancel your subscription through PayPal. Then you may buy your points through our website as needed.

Q. I have some leftover points. I want to subscribe, but will I get to keep my points?

A. Yes. We save your unused points when you sign up for a subscription. If you decide to cancel your subscription, those points will be returned to you.