Originally Posted by alk
As a buyer, the best thing you can do is to ignore the competitiveness of the auction. Decide on the maximum amount of money you would be willing to pay for the item. Bid this amount in the closing seconds of the auction to prevent yourself from being outbid in a bidding war. Use auctionsniper if you want to be sure. If you are outbid at the last second or fail to make reserve, there are no regrets, since you would have had to spend more than your maximum in order to obtain the item.
This is the only intelligent way to bid.
+1. ESnipe is another good sniping service.
Originally Posted by Canterbury5
If its an $800 item and the least youll accept for it is $500, then start the bidding at $500. Reserves are stupid.
One reason sellers use a reserve is because the reserve fee is refundable if the item sells. Insertion fees aren't refundable. A .01-.99 cent Insertion/Reserve fee is only .20 cents. A $500+ Insertion/Reserve fee is $4.80. You get that 20 cent - $4.80 fee back if you used a Reserve and the item sells. So they list it for .01-.99 cents for a fee of .20 cents, then if it meets their reserve and sells they don't owe anymore Insertion/Reserve fees, just Final Value Fees (which really add up once you include all the other extras like supersized photos, bold subject text, gallery photos, ect.).