Alf Beharie wrote:
I would'nt put my trust in Snipe programs because they only work if someone does'nt outbid the maximum budget you set them to bid up to.
Plus they really piss unsucessfull bidders off!!!
Haha. I am not sure if I care about pissed off unsuccessful bidders unless they live in my neighborhood and know I do too (Ulrik.... ) Anyway, snipeprograms are God´s gift to ebayers looking to not waste money.
After witnessing bid wars on ordinary lenses exceeding new price due to auction psychosis syndrom (APS ), I decided to become a sniper as well some time ago.
"Placing a high bid in the closing seconds of an auction-style listing is called “sniping” within the eBay community. Sniping is part of the eBay experience, and all bids placed before a listing ends are valid, even if they're placed one second before the listing ends. Learn how to avoid being outbid."
This article touches on all the advantages of sniping:
I use esnipe, it works great. if you are not sniping, you really are just leaving money on the table, and not being as effective a buyer as you could be. Any/all serious buyers use sniping, I think. only newbies get caught up in one-upping each other manually bidding. Sniping also prevents getting carried away price-wise. Also handy for when you are not around.
Jim, your adapter piece sounds like a great option, and alot like what Pete Ganzel offers. However he starts with (IMHO) inferior aluminum T-mount adapters and turns them down. They never seem to fit quite as snug as the chromed brass adapters.
Ed Sawyer wrote:
I use esnipe, it works great. if you are not sniping, you really are just leaving money on the table, and not being as effective a buyer as you could be. Any/all serious buyers use sniping, I think. only newbies get caught up in one-upping each other manually bidding. Sniping also prevents getting carried away price-wise.
Actually, I find the opposite is often true: Placing a snipe, I sometimes put a higher cap on it than I should. I'm thinking, well, it will NEVER go that high, so I'll probably get a really good deal, but I sure don't want to LOSE it.
-then the seller does a shill bid, or whatever, and I magically win the dang thing for exactly my highest bid.
If you snipe, make sure you're REALLY clear about what you're willing to spend, and ASSUME you will likely be paying your snipe price.
Cableaddict wrote:
Actually, I find the opposite is often true: Placing a snipe, I sometimes put a higher cap on it than I should. I'm thinking, well, it will NEVER go that high, so I'll probably get a really good deal, but I sure don't want to LOSE it.
-then the seller does a shill bid, or whatever, and I magically win the dang thing for exactly my highest bid.
If you snipe, make sure you're REALLY clear about what you're willing to spend, and ASSUME you will likely be paying your snipe price.
The sniping program shouldn´t push the auction up to your max amount by default. It catches the next bid increment up... It might reach the max amount though. Has for me as well sometimes.
I would be more worried about disclosing my max bid to ebay through their system. It is definitely in their interest to have a highest possible winning bid.
Even though I use snipe programs, I do watch the auction end in suspense as well. The sniping program affords me high precision auction behaviour, but it doesnt leave the suspense out of it ... for me anyway. It just stops me from engaging in the silly bidding war. If I lose I lose. But I know I didn´t do something stupid because I have calculated and done my value research. There is always another lens.
But the other day I should have gone 100 euros higher on a Noct-Nikkor...
I think around 300 is the most I have paid, but never mint condition. 350 for a very nice cond sound fine.
The Noct-Nikkor went for 1115 Euros. I maxed out at 1105. Blah. Should have put a higher number. Usually I find them to be overpriced, but I could live with a price in this range considering its status. Not sure if it would be better than the Rokkor anyway, but my mirror would get to go about its business unharmed.
You might be able to get a rokkor on ebay for $350. they often go higher, esp. for nice ones. I have seen them go cheaper too, but usually those are mislabeled, etc. The most I have paid was $370, but that was for the most mint one I have seen, orig. box, etc. It's super clean, late model one that is one of my 2 keepers. That was the top of the market then (a few months back) but they are trending higher lately.
The places to find them cheap are the places *other* than ebay and the usual suspects.
(Ulrik.... 
) Anyway, snipeprograms are God´s gift to ebayers looking to not waste money.
), I decided to become a sniper as well some time ago.