Tips from the Auction Sniper akata2402
Self explanatory. These are pretty much un-edited neomails I got from natiya (akata2402). Enjoy:
I'll be sure to check it out sometime tmr cuz I'm feeling kinda drowsy and might juz call it in for the nite. Prolly play around auctions for a lil bit - something that doesn't require too much thiking
When I get to the site, I'll try looking at the auction's page and see if I can add any of my own tips.
Well. . .here are the main tips I use whenever something interests me:
- You'll need loads of practice to sustain the 'luck' while auctioning.
- Know which auction regs are around when bidding on a popular + profitable item & analyze their auction habits ~ such as seng44, she has a tendency to win auctions that's likely to be ended in 0's by topping it off w/ a 1 - so how do I avoid losing to her (reducing it as much as possible) is ending my bids w/ anything but 0
- If you're not familiar w/ which relatively good auction regs are around, monitor the increase of a particular item during a specified near closing time frame (when bids are craziest). Then calculate mentally & quickly about how fast or slow the item is increasing, the probable lagginess and enter a bid
*shrugs* that's all I can tell you for now ^.~ Hopefully that helps a bit ~ that is if you don't already have my tips in your guide :D
~*Natiya*~
I don't like to add people to my AIM/MSN - hate it when it lags during the last few seconds of an auction x.x Sometimes messages keep popping up and your bids end up all over the place & not in the right place :[
Okies, I'm bushed lol. Read your entire auction section and you've pretty much covered most of the things I usually look out for :D
However, there are other tips that you can add (dunno if you've mentioned it - I may be too sleepy to find it)
- Reducing loses to regular auction snipers
To Detect when a regular auction sniper poses a minor threat than usual - Know your countries:
Juz hop by the chat boards throughout different times of the day - you'll be sure to find someone complaining about lagginess - if not, you complain and create a board to fish out those complainers
Look up the complainers and hope they aren't lying about their country. You can usually sneak out and win a few nice auctions when they're lagging w/out having to worry that they'll pose a major threat.
Cuz you see, I usually lag during the early afternoon to the early evenings ~ but no matter the lag, there are the chances that I'll still win some auctions (cuz I'm not the only one lagging ^.~)
to be continued. . .
~*Natiya*~
- How to prevent false inflations aka icing time:
Technically - everyone wants to win, it's juz a matter of playing fairly the ole fashion way or inflate and bank. If you support false inflation in auctions. . .I guess you can ignore this part but cuz I never false inflate - like I mentioned on my lookup, I don't bank on items I intend to win.
I like winning big profits like over 10k+ & when some idiot inflators come and ruin my chance to win - heh, I'll ice them ^.~
Normally, they don't juz inflate one item, they go around inflating a whole bunch of low-priced items and then bank soooooooo, if I see that happening, I collect all the auction #'s and report it to Neo - normally I get some of them iced within days
Neo knows about it cuz I've reported them plenty of times & I receive non-automated replies from Neo telling me that they are aware and monitoring it (as we all know, they don't monitor it 24/7 :P Simply based on how unlucky the pair of inflators are)
to be continued. . .
~*Natiya*~
The previous neomail was juz ways of revenging on those that ruin auctions for some ole-timer like meeh :P As you can already tell, that method is meant for items that have already been inflated and you can do nothing about it except report them
Here's what you do when you see people inflating - stop them by messing up their bids. That's really common sense. I keep enuf NP out to win all auctions that I bid on so in other words, cuz inflators/scammers tend to bank, if they don't take in account that I keep enuf NP out to most of my auctions, they'll still lose the item to me anywayz. I rather minimize their chances of earning a big profit by overbidding sometimes :P
to be continued. . .
~*Natiya*~
Last - Keeping it Fun!
Oh yes, after everything I've mentioned, there's something you might wanna add to your auction intro:
Do a thorough check and bid on all auctions you may be interested in - whether it be paint brushes, weapons, neggs, nerkmids, maps, codestones, etc.
If you have the time, look at your favourite category of items up and make a bid on those you'd like to come back to.
My quote on auctions: "Placing a bid is like bookmarking the item and possibly NOT essentially coming back to it later"
Don't over-stress yourself if you're not around to see the auction end, it's juz a lil something for you to do when you're available
That's all I can think of for now. I know I write essays but since you wanted my input, I'm sure you saw this coming :P
~*Natiya*~
For people new to auctions, I might have one more comment for them (moral support/tip to improve):
Fact: Everyone wants to win big at sniper city - however, there could only be one winner.
If you still don't win at sniper city - review the mistakes you might have made (MOST of it is already stated in your "if you still can't win" page)
Here are the additional comments that you might wanna add to the "if you still can't win" page:
After failing to win at big sniper city auctions numerous times & you're at the verge of quitting auctions - DO NOT quit.
Simply don't aim so high as often. . .YET. Go back to the smaller auctions and practice. Look for items like Secret Lab Maps, buyable PBs under the 70k line ish, Nerkmids etc. (items preferably over 20k in value to practice big city sniper skills).
Sometimes if the particular item has a margin of 5 - 10k + higher profit, you may see big city sniper trends. Practice on those first, they may not earn you a very big profit but because those items are so popular, the difficulty can be compatible to those you'll see at big sniper city auctions.
. . . ..to be continued.
~*Natiya*~
Wanna test out your skills after several practices? Multi-task, you don't need several practices, you can be practicing on smaller auctions and trying out big ones simultaneously. Don't completely stop aiming high. . .juz maybe not as frequently if you don't feel completely ready.
That way you'll be able to analyze if your skills have been improving. That doesn't necessarily mean that you'll win the big auctions, simply to check if you're at least closer than before.
That's all for now David :) Hope the additional comments help & I'm not repeating what you've already stated - I tried to avoid that but I know I have repeated some aspects that have already been noted in your guide.
PS Do NOT ever try to send me ANYTHING *shakes her head* I try to alwayz keep my inventory full cuz people tend to scare me w/ presents when I simply answer a few questions or help them on a small quest.
No one can force me to do something I don't want - especially online and if I wanted to help, all I'm ever expecting in return is a simple yet sincere thank you - do not go beyond that.
Seems like I've written out another essay -.- Hehe, I'll stop bugging you now.
Be seeing you around ^.~
~*Natiya*~