SnipeStreet FAQ

If you have a question not listed here, just post a new topic to the forum.

Q1: How do I snipe in foreign (non-US) currency?

A1: Just enter your bid amount in the same currency as the auction. For example, if the auction price is in Euros, just enter "9.50" to make your snipe bid 9.50 Euros.

Q2: On what events do I receive email notifications of my sniping activity?

A2: After Snipestreet attempts to snipe your auction, there are one of three outcomes:
a. Your bid amount (the max you are willing to pay) was lower than the auction price. In this case, you will receive an email saying your bid was too low.
b. Your bid amount was higher than the auction price, your bid was submitted, but you didn't win the auction. In this case, you will receive an email saying your bid was submitted. Click the url in the email and you will see who won the auction and what the closing price was.
c. Your bid amount was higher than the auction price, your bid was submitted, and you won the auction. In this case, you will receive an email saying your bid was submitted and you will receive another email saying that you won the auction.
Also, if you want to view a detailed log of your sniping activity, click the "View your snipe log" button on the main webpage.

Q3: What is the "time buffer" parameter used for?

A3: The value of "time buffer" is the number of seconds left in the auction when your bid is submitted to eBay. For example, if time buffer is set to 12, then your bid will be submitted to eBay 12 seconds before the auction ends. The recommened setting is 12, but some users like to snipe closer to the auction ending time. The minimum time buffer is 3 seconds, which is very close to the auction ending time. There are dangers with submitting bids too close to the end: Delays caused by the Internet or overloaded eBay servers may cause your bid to arrive too late (after the auction ends). Note, when our servers have too many bids to enter at the same time, it may spread out the bids to even the load. So, you may see some bids that are submitted a few seconds earlier than your time buffer setting (this is to improve reliability for you and other users). Change your default time buffer setting with the "set time buffer" link on your home page.

Q4: I should have won the auction. Why didn't I win?

A4: Common reasons why your snipe did not win the auction:

Your max bid amount is not higher than the bid increment required to place a higher bid. See eBay's Bid Increments.
You don't live in a country that the seller will ship to. Check this with the "Diagnose" link on your "View/Remove Snipes" page.
The seller requires the buyer to have a PayPal account and eBay doesn't have a PayPal account linked to your eBay account.
The seller removed the item from eBay.
The seller has blocked your account from bidding on the item. Yes, sellers sometimes do this and usually to people who snipe many times per day on certain kinds of items.
The snipe was placed after the auction ended. This is a late snipe. Try increasing your time buffer. Bad internet connectivity or overloaded eBay servers can also cause this.
If your bid was high enough to be submitted to eBay, you can view the message eBay returned using the "Diagnose" link under "View/Remove Snipes" off your main home page.
If you can find nothing wrong with your snipe, PLEASE email us at 'support' at snipestreet.com and we will be happy to do a personal diagnosis and reply to you as quickly as we can.

Q5: How do I tell SnipeStreet that my eBay password has changed?

A5: You can update your eBay password by clicking the "my preferences" link on your main SnipeStreet page. If you change your eBay password, you must update the eBay password SnipeStreet has on-file for you. Failing to update your eBay password will result in failed snipes because SnipeStreet won't be able to enter the bid on your behalf.

Q6: Why is it dangerous to use bid groups on PRIVATE auctions?

A6: If the seller chooses to make the bidder list "private" (aka private auction), the winner of the auction is hidden. If the winner's name is hidden, then SnipeStreet cannot determine if you won the auction. This is bad for bid groups because if the system cannot determine if you won, it cannot remove all future snipes belonging to that bid group. If you win a private auction that belongs to a bid group, you could win more than one item in that bid group. So, you should not assign a bid group if the auction is private. If you do not want to win the private auction AND the bid group, then you should not snipe the private auction.

See more FAQs in the support forum

SnipeStreet is in no way affiliated with nor endorsed by eBay. eBay is a registered trademark of eBay, Inc.