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Getting Started: Sniping Do's and Do-Not's


This article has been updated in BidSlammer Blog.

Sellers continue to have more methods of blocking unwanted bidders, so make sure to review and perform all of these steps. These steps are listed in order of MOST to LEAST important. If you have them all covered, you can only miss due to eBay or Internet lag.

  1. DO keep your password updated at BidSlammer at all times. Lots of folks forget to update their password at BidSlammer after they change it at eBay. BidSlammer gives you a reminder if you have not logged into BidSlammer in over a week or so! To update your password, check your BidSlammer Preferences, located at the top right of any internal page.

    When you enter your password, we check it right then and there. You will receive a message that says "password Confirmed" or "password Rejected." We also check the password once each time you come back to our site.

  2. DO link your PayPal account to your eBay account. Sellers continue to have more methods of blocking unwanted bidders. ALL SNIPERS should link their PayPal accounts to eBay. Otherwise, your snipe may result in this error page.

    Note: We never know why you are blocked. It is up to you to determine this. It's a personal matter between you and the seller.

  3. DO turn off your PayPal Security Key, if you have one. This is very important; make sure you do not use a PayPal Security Key. If you do, it is impossible to snipe an item if a seller enforces PayPal security keys. (Few sellers actually enforce keys since they believe it decreases sales (from snipers, for example). Click here to see the error screen.

  4. DO confirm your primary PayPal address. You can do this easily at PayPal. Make sure you read Instructions to confirm your PayPal account. Otherwise, your snipe may result in this error page.

  5. DO NOT use a trivial password at eBay. If your eBay password is any English word or proper noun (like your name or userid) followed by a number, such as "flower1", "john77", "george99", then you MUST change it immediately at eBay. Then, update it in your BidSlammer Preferences. We suggest passwords that mix case, and have at least one number. Try putting two words together connected by a number. That works great: "hello2you," therefore, is infinitely better than "hello01."

  6. DO NOT bid equal or higher than the BIN price for Buy-it-Now items. If you do, E-Bay will return this self-explanatory error message.

    Your maximum bid is above or equal to the "Buy It Now" price. You can lose the item to another user if they buy the item without waiting for the listing to end. Consider buying the item using Buy It Now. If you still wish to bid, you may do so below by entering a price lower than the Buy It Now price of (price).