The Wait. Oh Trust Me, There Are Snipers Out There.

Lurking on laptops, phones and apps, are a bunch of snipers waiting for the big last 30 minutes of the Step Hydro ebay sale. If it makes it that far. I am sure there is all sorts of behind the scenes stuff going on. Since figuring out a price is the real thing here. Did a private offer come in that wont be met in an ebay sale? Will snipers come in at the last second and reach an insane price? Its all possible and part of the fun.

The waiting, as painful as it can be, can be the most fun part if you are..well..lets say writing stories every day and you need crap to write about. Making drama out of which screw should be used and why its critical on a boat like this. Wait.. Thats another story. How thin is the wood? There, another. Aluminum head on the engine? How about the seats? Cushions or no cushions?

Stinkys crappy aluminum head

Despite what others have said about an easy restoration, there is some deep research to be done, and that is also part of the waiting game. But right now. Its snipers.. Now. For those of you wondering what in the hell I am talking about. Ebay Snipers are the bids that come in out of no were in the last few seconds. Snipers wait, and lurk.. Watching.. And then pounce. The game gets more interesting when one bidder puts a very high reserve and the other sniper hits at the last second and yet cant out bid the high bidder. So has to throw in quick.

Miss Step Naked

To top this all off, there are apps that can do all this in millaseconds, and in a matter of 5 seconds, 4 bids can double the price just like that.

What the? Dave!

HOW TO WATCH THIS. Go to the sale. CLICK HERE!  about 2 minutes before the sale ends, and hit refresh. The price will change, change change.. Its the best 30 seconds of the day. Or it just stays. Crazy. Real drama, and its live! So, sit back, and lets all wait.. Wait… wait… zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

16 replies
  1. Mike K
    Mike K says:

    I always wondered why people bid up items early in the sale, showing others their hand.
    I have my bids set to go with 3 seconds left at the max I want to pay
    Usually I win at leas than I want to pay and if I lose it was too much for me anyway

  2. warren
    warren says:

    I find an old analog clock with a sweep second hand works best for me for manual sniping.
    Just be aware that alcohol and E-Bay are a deadly combo
    Example:

    • Jim G
      Jim G says:

      Heres my late night buy on ebay about a 2 years ago. Then had to figure out how to get it here from Italy.

    • Jim G
      Jim G says:

      You need to watch some of the bidding on Bring A Trailer. There is no sniping as the clock resets to 2 minutes when the time remaining is less then 2 minutes. There have been a couple auctions that the last 2 minutes have lasted 45 minutes.

  3. Mark in Ohio (sometimes da U P)
    Mark in Ohio (sometimes da U P) says:

    I agree warren. Alcohol and e Bay are a bad combination. I have woken up many a Saturday, and Sunday morning realizing what I had bought. It’s worse if you have sold a few things, and have some money in pay
    pal. I have a brother in law who takes pride in snipering. I don’t agree with it but whatever.

  4. floyd r turbo
    floyd r turbo says:

    Back in the days of dial-up I saw a small Kubota tractor I just had to have and was surfing ebay the last 10 minutes of the sale. The owner had misspelled Kubota (it must have been Matt selling it) so thought no one would bid at last minute. Then I saw a bid and suddenly I lost my connection, couldn’t get connected so I jumped in my car and drove across the subdivision to a friends house and ran out to his back yard where he was in the hot tub and I saw a bare bottom dive under the water. I yelled “I need to use your computer to place a bid, I lost connection”. He understood immediately. Won the bid and later saw his wife and she said “you know I was naked in the hot tub when you came by”. I said, “yea, I hadn’t notice”.

  5. Jeff
    Jeff says:

    I expected a lot of attention when this finally went on the market. There has been more than I expected. But what we did not expect wall the free entertainment that came with it.

    Again, thanks for all the free advertising too. 😉

  6. Jeff
    Jeff says:

    Just stumbled up a copy of the great article on these boats. It was the Brass Bell. Winter of 2007. I will include it with the paperwork to the sniper that wins it.

  7. Johnny V./John Vyverberg
    Johnny V./John Vyverberg says:

    Yup. Had a ’57 Chevy 283 stuck long block sitting around the garage forever. Put it in Ebay-better that the scrap yard. Bidding topped at around $250 or so which I was very happy with. In the last minute it went up to $1600! The guy who bought it needed the correct date codes for a ’57 convertible he was restoring. When he picked it up he said “I didn’t expect to pay that much”.

Comments are closed.