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Are Snipers Shooting Themsleves in the Foot?
A Study of Internet Auctions

Authors:

Michael A. Kamins
Xavier Drèze
Valerie S. Folkes

Publisher:

Abstract:

Sniping is an online bidding behavior that involves delaying one's bid until shortly before the end of an auction. Two experiments are conducted on eBay to investigate the benefits of sniping as well as its regulation. Whereas auction participants believe that sniping leads to a higher probability of winning an auction and a lower price, results of our first experiment showed that sniping does not enhance the probability of winning the item, nor does it lower the purchase price. The reason for such findings are investigated as is an explanation for the source of the myth resulting in the popularity of sniping as a bidding strategy. A second experiment showed that sniping behavior is decreased when bidders are made aware of others' interest in the auction.