Click "watch this item’ (Ebay will notify you when the auction has about 5 or so hours to go)
Put a small ‘in’ bid on the item (Example…if the item is at 12.99, then bid 13.57 or some strange number) to get your foot in the door. This will allow you to do the next step quickly and sneekaly.
With 10 seconds left in the auction, bid how much you will be willing to spend on the said item…MAKE SURE ITS IS A STRANGE UNROUNDED NUMBER…10 seconds, no less, no more. This will allow you time to bid and confirm (effectivly placing the bid with only 1 or 2 seconds to go…its all about timing).
Smile after you win the item at the lowest price possible.
These steps are referd to as Sniping.
Hope this helps…but dont bid on items I am going after
The fallacy to this whole thing is that If there is a substantially higher bid, you will not find it out before the auction ends. True sniping is done with a software program and not the manual system you bring up.
why place a small bid on the item? all it will do is raise the price you will eventualy have to bid. the way to do it is to wait for the last minute then place your bid for the highest you would pay.
Don’t get so caught up in the bidding process that you overlook the shipping/handling charges. These sometimes excessive charges have caused me not to bid on several items that I would like to have had. I don’t get into bidding wars, I bid the most I would be willing to pay and, if that’s not good enough to win, I simply search elsewhere.
Also something to keep in mind when sniping…some sellers will NOT sell to snipers. Even if that means going against Ebay policy. Some people see sniping as unethical. I see it as first come first serve.
