Quote:
Originally Posted by Pturner
Then, it should work. Not sure what the benefit is of bidding ahead of the closing as it would only tend to drive up the price. However, I'm not an experienced eBayer, so someone please weigh in if there is are downsides to my theory.
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It makes no sense to bid early, just hoping nobody will outbid you. They will.
I decide how much I want to pay for an item and then usually add an unusual amount to my bid, i.e. if I want to pay a maximum of around $5.00 I'll bid perhaps $5.11 or $5.27. That eliminates all those who bid in even numbers.
Most importantly, I bid in the last seconds of an auction, usually 5-7 seconds before the end, depending on the time of day and the popularity of the item. There are programs which help you accomplish this and will notify if you have been outbid so you can adjust your maximum if you like.
Don't worry about the ethics of being a sniper. It's not a sporting event, the idea is to be successful in your bidding. I rarely lose an auction except to another sniper who outbids me in the last few seconds. If rookies get into a bidding war and drive the price higher than I want to go, I let it go.
My way is all business, never emotional.