Auction.com / automatic bidding software?

marty

1 MW
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
2,810
Location
Buffalo, New York USA
I have bought stuff on eBay. With ezsniper.com I usually win every auction. Ezsniper charges 1%.

Here is why and how ezsniper.com works:
Why should I snipe an auction?
You should bid late in the auction to win more of your auctions, for the convenience of not having to sit by your computer waiting for the auction to end, and to save money. Sniping helps to eliminate competitive bids. It also prevents other bidders from discovering your proxy (maximum) bid because your bid is kept completely private until the very end of the auction. It keeps your interest in an item private. Sniping protects you from being shilled. And, it's fun to watch the bidding play out...automatically. Independent UNIVERSITY STUDIES have found that experienced bidders submit their bids as late as possible in timed online auctions, auctions site like the ones EZ sniper supports.

I placed a Proxy Bid on a house auction at Auction.com Never did this before. Way more money then little stuff on eBay. Is there any automatic bidding software that works at Auction.com?

The add for house I bid on says:
Interior Access Available
Contact Agent

Agent emailed and said:
"Hi Marty: I am not local. You'll need a local agent to show you the property."

Looked at house with a local agent today. We can't find the lock box. All the doors are locked. My thinking is that if no one can get into the house hopefully others will bid less. House is reported to be vacant. I see no evidence of anyone living in the house.

On line auction starts in about 16 hours. That be 8:00am Sunday morning.
Online Auction: Jun 24 - 26
 
Its happening. Auction started today at 8:00 in the morning. When I sign in I see "You have the highest bid" Price is going up in $10,000 increments. When I click on Bid History. See my proxy bids. Don't see who other bidders are? Just 1, 2, and 3. I am 1 and 3. Says - Reserve Not Met, Bid Again. I am going to do nothing and just watch and wait to see what happens? I entered my maximum proxy bid before the auction started.

Lets examine some words. Copy and paste from Auction.com

Proxy Bids
  • Begin on the property details page to decide if you would like to submit a proxy bid. A proxy bid allows you to submit your highest and best offer prior to the auction. The system then automatically bids during the auction on your behalf until it reaches your bid amount.
  • After the auction is over we will notify you if you were the highest bidder. If you are the highest bidder, the seller will review your bid and we will notify you of the outcome. If the seller accepts your offer, you will move into closing.

Reserve
What is the Reserve?

The "Reserve" is the minimum selling price established by the Seller of a property prior to the auction. Most properties on Auction.com have an established Reserve. The Starting Bid is usually set below the Reserve. Note: a winning bidder can be declared whether or not the Reserve is met.

Subject to Confirmation: Many properties may be sold outright to the winning bidder once the Reserve has been met. However, for some properties, the winning bid (whether below, equal to or above the Reserve) is subject to Seller confirmation, as noted in the Terms and Conditions for each property. If a property is sold subject to seller confirmation, winning bidders will be notified by Auction.com if their bid was accepted by the Seller.

If I am calculating the time correctly? Auction ends Tuesday at 3:30 pm. Eastern time here.
 
markz said:
Similar to ebays "Max Bid"
Auctions.com bids automatically until your Max Bid is met?
That's how it appears to be working.

Only see last 3 bids when I click on Bid History. Wonder why I don't see complete history?

Bid History
1. Your Bid: $XX,000
2. $XX,000
3. Your Bid: $XX,000

$XX,000 = Current Bid in units of 10 thousand. Changed actual numbers to XX for privacy reasons.
 
Hillhater said:
My gut tells me that bidding for anything worth 10s of $1000s , i would want it to be my finger on the button , not some piece of software that someone else wrote. ! :shock:
I trust computers more then my finger. Kind of like the air bag in my car. Would rather have a computer decide if and when to blow off a bomb in the center of my steering wheel.

Off topic rant about air bags, seat belts, nice padded car interiors, and all safety equipment in cars. Think people would drive more safely if the interior of our cars looked like a old truck I had. Interior was all sharp metal and nuts and bolts. You crash you get hurt. Pay attention and don't have a accident.

Looking at the dates and times of the emails from Auction.com My first automatic bid was 6/24/2018 8:00 AM when the auction first started. My next bids were the same minute or one minute later then counter bids.

List of dates and times of "You have been outbid" emails:
6/24/2018 12:13 PM
6/24/2018 5:00 PM
6/25/2018 1:13 AM

OK all you software writers let get going and make a Auction.com sniper service.
lastsecondsniper.com domian name is available
auctionsniperservice.com domian name is available
I am learning how to build web sites. Look
http://webmasterwebdesign.com/
 
Few months ago I went downtown to Erie County Hall to watch and learn how foreclose auctions happen. Old brass 6 sided table in the hall. Small, tall stand up height, table about 3 or 4 foot diameter. This Auction.com online auction is not a foreclosure. It is a bank selling a property.

If I remember correctly, I watched 4 auctions? There was a lawyer called the referee, girl from the bank, and two or three guys biding against the bank lady. The three guys were regulars who go to lots of auctions. They all seemed to have way more money then me. Seemed like there were no great deals to be had because the banks have a minimum that they would sell for. Over heard a bidder who lost the auction tell the bank lady "You have my phone number" Imagine that if bank got overwhelmed with house repairs they could ask the highest bidder if he wanted to buy it?
 
Once bought a foreclosure house. Found an ad in a newspaper and went and talked to the guy. He had a contact in banks that would allow him to privately advertise houses under foreclosure and we took this one and moved in with no money needed except for his fees which were very reasonable. Once the Bank Auction was getting near, we assumed the previous mortgage and put down $6g's and kept living there until we sold and moved. The guy notified us when we needed to stop the foreclosure and everything went well.

Of course, that was before everyone started buying and flipping. Probably difficult to do what we did, now. This pretty much eliminated other buyers once we signed with the guy for non disclosure to other buyers.

I do my own sniping when buying. Ebay/Paypal just held my money from a sale until the buyer said all was OK with the items. THAT part sucked and I contacted them to release. It could take up to 60 days to get my money. Notice all the high shipping rates on Ebay ? There is a reason for that.
 
Harold in CR said:
It could take up to 60 days to get my money. Notice all the high shipping rates on Ebay ? There is a reason for that.

Yeah I have noticed that, could be they get that s/h cash upfront!
 
Update - I WON!

Breaking the door knob off was easier then expected. Screwdriver, hammer, and aviation snips. Bought a new $10 doorknob.

House has some issues. One bedroom has no closet and only way to get to the bedroom is through the bathroom. Got to watch someone pooping to get to the bed room. Yesterday I was ready to cancel the sale. Was thinking about Buying forest land, implementing solar. I don't mind if others watch me poop. Ever been to jail? Yes I go with the bathroom door open. This is a serious resale problem.

Today I am feeling better. Beautiful garage.

Door is 10 x 8 feet. My truck needs a 10 foot tall door. Been thinking about different ways to make door taller? Garage roof is trusses. First I thought cats paw nail puller, and reciprocating saw. Separate roof from top of wall and raise it up. Then I thought DUH! Cut wall at foundation and raise garage about 2 feet.

I have been through these same questions with a building inspector in a different town. Residential codes only allow short garages. Went to talk to the building inspector today. He say 14' That is height to average roof height. Easier to explain with a picture.
AAMA-TIR-A15-14-Mean-Roof-Height-Figure.jpg

Per ASCE 7, the Mean Roof Height (h) is defined as the average of the roof eave height and the height to the highest point on the roof surface, except that, for roof angles of less than or equal to 10°, the mean roof height is permitted to be taken as the roof eave height.

I notice in the paperwork that this house is zoned commercial. I point that out to the building inspector. He looks in a different book. 30 feet tall! I could build a tower!
 
Auction.com seems a little shady? I copy from a different add:

Counter Bid
In order to bring a buyer and seller to a mutually agreeable price, Auction.com has been authorized to place a counter-bid on a seller's behalf. Counter-bids will not be placed once the seller's reserve price has been met.

No idea if I was bidding against a buyer, the seller, or a computer?

I clicked nothing while the auction was running. Let the web site automatically increase my bid. Increments changed from $10,000 to $2500 and then to $1000. I might have not seen all the numbers. For me watching auctions is like watching lithium batteries charge. I don't do battery baby sitting. At the end it kept extending by the seconds. Then it said GOING ONCE seconds started over. GOING TWICE seconds started over. I won. No great deal here. I should give seminars on how to loose money with real estate.

Auction.com uses docs.google.com for me to fill out a [Confirm Contract Information] form.
Auction.com uses docusign.net to get the contract to me. I no do online signing. Chose the PDF option. Will email the contract to my lawyer tomorrow morning when I am more awake. Auction.com say I need to sign in 24 hours. They might be delusional? Lawyer read 30 pages in 24 hours?
 
Emailed contract to lawyer. He called to say that he just had eye surgery, cataract? Something has gone very wrong and he can't see. He can not read the contract. Thinking about canceling the sale? Seriously thinking about Buying forest land, implementing solar. Lets get started.

Wife also just had cataract surgery. First surgeon. Would not hire her to run the cash register at a McDonalds. Bad people skills. Second surgeon. Happy to say he fixed her. Poped a new lens in, and she said. "I can see!". I do all my own medical work. Pray that I never need to replace a eye ball lens.

Wheatfield PDF zoning map

A-R, Agricultural-Residential
C-1, Commercial
M-1, Industrial-1
M-2, Industrial-2
O-1, Love Canal Overlay
O-2, Niagara Falls Blvd Overlay
O-3, Airport Zone One Overlay
PUD, Planned Unit Development
R-1, Residential-1
R-2, Residential-2
R-3, Residential-3
R-C, Restricted-Commercial
R-R, Rural-Residential
RNB, Rural Neighborhood Business

ecode360.com

A-R
200-12
Accessory.
Maximum height: 20 feet; no limit on farm buildings.

R-R
200-13
Accessory. For accessory buildings, the following shall apply:
Maximum height: 14 feet.

RNB
200-13.1
Accessory.
Maximum height: 14 feet.

R-W W=water, see no water?
200-13.2
Accessory. For accessory buildings, the following shall apply:
Maximum height: 14 feet.

R-1
200-14
Accessory. For accessory buildings, the following shall apply:
Maximum height: 14 feet

R-2
200-15
Accessory. For accessory buildings the following shall apply:
Maximum height: 14 feet.

R-3
200-16
Accessory. For accessory buildings, the following shall apply:
Maximum height: 14 feet.

R-C
200-17
Accessory. For accessory buildings, the following shall apply:
Maximum height: 14 feet.

C-1
200-18
Accessory. For accessory buildings, the following shall apply:
Maximum height: 30 feet.

M-1
200-19
Accessory. For accessory buildings, the following shall apply:
Maximum height: 30 feet.

M-2
200-20
Accessory. For accessory buildings, the following shall apply:
Maximum height: 30 feet.

O-1, O-2, O-3, PUD, Best to stay away from the Love Canal

Looks like Marty's big garage needs:
A-R, Agricultural-Residential
C-1, Commercial
M-1, Industrial-1
M-2, Industrial-2
 
Lets look at a different town. Town of Pendleton.

Codes look different.
247-34 Accessory structures
Maximum size.
(1) On residential lots up to and including two acres: maximum size of 600 square feet.
(2) On residential lots of more than two acres, up to and including seven acres: maximum size of 1,200 square feet. Also see Section § 247-34F(4).
(3) On residential lots of more than seven acres: maximum size of 2,000 square feet. Also see § 247-34F(4).

Minimum setbacks; maximum heights.
(1) Structures of a size of 50 square feet and under in area and under eight feet in height are not considered to be accessory structures.

However, a ten-foot setback must be maintained from all lot lines.

(2) Accessory structure of a size of up to 600 square feet:
(a) Front yard: 150 feet.
(b) Side yard: 15 feet.
(c) Rear yard: 20 feet.
(d) Height not to exceed 16 feet.

(3) Accessory structure of a size over over 600 square feet, up to and including 2,000 square feet:
(a) Front yard: 150 feet.
(b) Side yard: 15 feet.
(c) Rear yard: 20 feet.
(d) Height not to exceed 20 feet.

OK looks like ya need 2 acres or more for a 1,200 square foot garage with Height not to exceed 20 feet.

1 Acre = 43560 Square feet
 
Off the grid and away from civilization sounds like a great idea.
Somewhere with a freshwater lake that is not frigging polluted.
A nice Panoramic view of the mountains.

They got them 1% realtors now, saves a bit of coin for the sellers.


Tangent
View of mountains - Reminds me of a person apart of the Jayman House Builders family business, who built a house, well here's a pic
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.047246,-114.4667291,3a,15y,273.52h,90.49t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1slH9pO5jPHpWRNwvfmAOc-A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
What a shame, all that money and only a slice of mountain view and the house itself is friggin hideous!
Yes that is 9 or 10 garage doors.

$13M and no view, right next to highway again
https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Map.aspx#CultureId=1&ApplicationId=1&RecordsPerPage=9&MaximumResults=9&PropertySearchTypeId=1&TransactionTypeId=2&StoreyRange=0-0&BedRange=0-0&BathRange=0-0&LongitudeMin=-114.3032469668255&LongitudeMax=-114.277583590971&LatitudeMin=50.81337266805034&LatitudeMax=50.82150675733919&SortOrder=D&SortBy=1&viewState=m&Longitude=-114.063011169434&Latitude=51.0452194213867&CurrentPage=1&ZoomLevel=16&PropertyTypeGroupID=1

https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Map.aspx#CultureId=1&ApplicationId=1&RecordsPerPage=9&MaximumResults=9&PropertySearchTypeId=1&TransactionTypeId=2&StoreyRange=0-0&BedRange=0-0&BathRange=0-0&LongitudeMin=-114.3032469668255&LongitudeMax=-114.277583590971&LatitudeMin=50.81337266805034&LatitudeMax=50.82150675733919&SortOrder=D&SortBy=1&viewState=m&Longitude=-114.063011169434&Latitude=51.0452194213867&CurrentPage=1&ZoomLevel=16&PropertyTypeGroupID=1
 
Sorry for the slow reply here. From 7/5/18
Hello X X,
Per your request, your purchase of the property at X has been cancelled.

Canceled the sale. The traffic noise from a 4 lane road was more then I want to spend the rest of my life listening to. Now searching for a more quiet place.
 
Town of Niagara
https://ecode360.com/NI0431
R-1, RESIDENTIAL - 1
§ 245-18 R-1 One-Family Residential District.
B. Permitted accessory uses.
(1) A private detached garage, intended for the storage of privately owned motor vehicles, not exceeding 650 square feet in floor area nor 14 feet in height.
 
I would be looking for a clean, freshwater lake to reside on or near so you can have water sports, fishing, and still do what you want out in the bush whether it be hunting, offroading. Yet still close to populated area's and maybe an hour away from a Walmart and Costco.

Harrison Lake BC fits the bill nicely. But if you prefer American locations, then Lake Tahoe would be the ticket!
 
Lets try Cumbria.

Cambria guy writes his own book!
http://www.townofcambria.com/ContentPages/Documents/final%202018%20zoning%20ordinance.pdf

ARTICLE IV RESIDENCE DISTRICTS R-1
2. Accessory buildings or structures including garages as defined herein and as regulated in Section 300(4). No
accessory use building or other structures including garages shall be constructed until the principal building is completed or under
construction.

Section 300 PERMITTED USES OF LAND AND BUILDINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES
4. Accessory use buildings or structures including private garages as defined herein. Two buildings (only one of
which may be a garage) unattached to a principal structure and not exceeding 1,000 sq. ft. each, shall be allowed. All structures,
including accessory buildings, shall not exceed thirty five percent (35%) of the total lot size. No accessory use building or other
structures, including private garages, shall be constructed until the principal building is completed or under construction.

a) For a one-family dwelling unit in the Cambria Sewer District, the minimum lot dimensions per dwelling
unit shall be 125 feet by 200 feet and the minimum width of the lot at the street right-of-way shall be 125 feet.
[We in the sewer district, but not sure if there are any sewers? I see no man holes?]

ARTICLE IV RESIDENCE DISTRICTS R-1
6. Height The height of dwellings shall not exceed two (2) stories being 22 feet, at the eaves.

Now look at web site:
http://www.townofcambria.com/building-inspector
Abbreviated Requirements for Building
6. MAXIMUM SIZE OF DETACHED GARAGE

One story, 720 square feet with a maximum door height of 10 feet, (note: if the property is not a farm and has an existing garage, either attached or detached, any additional building will be considered an accessory building).

Why is this different? Garage 720 square feet verses 1,000 square feet? Time to go talk to the building inspector.
 
Back to the original topic, Bid-sniping software works on eBay, because eBay does NOT extend its time when someone bids the last moment.

Let's say you have a human watching it, and doesn't trust proxy bid. They are willing to bid say $100, but with 5 mins to go, the item is only at $40. If you enter $50, he'll bid 60, if you enter 70, he'll go to $80. But if you let the bid sniper wait until 1 second before close, and bid $50, he has no chance to enter anything higher even if he is willing to keep going. In any auction system where the count down starts again (the whole, going once, going twice, etc), bid snipers don't really work.

Proxy bids and "Counter-bids" (In Australia, they're called vendor bids, and by law they must be declared as such), are a really bad idea. That's because once you're the only one bidding, all any further bid achieves is to reveal your maximum, which weakens your negotiating position. E.g. If your maximum is $200,000 and the reserve (unknown to you) is $180,000, then if you open with $150,000 and nobody else bids. The aim of the counter bid is to try to shake out anyone who has a maximum close to reserve, so they might make a counter-bid of $179,000.

If you set a proxy bid, you'll probably get it for $180,000, the reserve you didn't know about. Sound like you got it cheap as possible? Not really.

If you didn't put a proxy bid in, then all the vendor knows that the real highest bid was $150,000. They might feel that to get a sale, they need to figure out the number between $150,000 and $180,000 that they're still willing to accept, rather than take the property off the market and try again.

Even if they put in a proxy bid of $175,000 and the auction closed at $176,000, they know you have at least $176,000 to spend and negotiate from there.

However, if you stopped bidding at $150,000 you can lie to them and tell them "$160,000 is my absolute hard limit", where as they might then come back with an offer of $170,000 and you can say "let me see what I can scrape together from some friends and family" and let them sweat a few days and say "I can get $168,430 and I'm maxing out my credit card to do that. Take it or leave it".

In other words, not revealing your hand by not proxy bidding puts you in a much stronger position to negotiate.

Only ever proxy bid for "one of a kind, I'll kick myself for years if I miss out on this, damn the price, here's a blank cheque Mr Realtor" kind of property.
 
City of North Tonawanda, NY
https://www.ecode360.com/NO0216?needHash=true
§ 103-6. R1-1 Single-Family Residence District.
Private garages with a limit of 750 square feet in size and of similar construction style as the surrounding neighborhood.
[Amended 3-2-2005]
 
Lets try Cheektowaga. Towns around here have Indian names.
https://ecode360.com/CH0381?needHash=true

Wow hold on, we in a village now.
Village of Sloan
On 2020 Zoning Map. Pink is M1 LIGHT MANUFACTURING

https://ecode360.com/SL0113

Either I am reading it wrong or M1 roof height is missing? Little village with missing information in their code book?
 
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