That's consistent with my experiences...it varies and, in the long run, likely doesn't matter much. You decide what it's worth to you, you bid...you hope for the best. Sometimes snipes work, sometimes they don't.

I bid early to "shake the bushes " This way, I find out if I'm being " run " or if there may be serious interest.
I'll lowball as well. Sometimes, I'm the only bidder.


Johnny B.

I used to bid on every set of delta brakes that came up for auction, always on the first auction day. My bid was always at least 20% under the going "market" price. I was shocked at the numberof auctions that I won like this. When I go too many sets of the brakes, I would simply sell them onwards myself, always earning more than I had paid for them. I also used to frequently bid on oddball items that I saw and then simply forget about them. Again I was surprised at how often I awoke in the morning to find an email saying that I had won the auction... Including a few times where my bid had been outbid previously by one and in one case even by two bidders who retracted their bids.

I have used a few different sniping programs in the past that have screwed up and made me miss an item that I really truly wanted too... It would seem the best sniping programs are now the ones that you need to pay for, which makes them less attractive. Lastly, to have to time my life to manually snipe is not in teh books for me as the actual cost to me in time wasted and time use effficiency is simply not there.

I don't use eBay for things "I have to have." So, I bid what I'm willing to pay, whenever I feel like it, and when the auction closes eBay emails me if I won. If I lose because somebody sniped the auction or because someone bid higher than me with 24 hours left, it doesn't make any difference -- I bid what I wanted to pay and someone else wanted to pay more. I don't agonize over what would have happened "if I'd just bid a couple dollars more."

No, it's free, open source software:

https://esniper.sourceforge.net

One possible explanation for early bidding that hasn't been mentioned is when a buyer (who is not relying on a fancy multiple auction sniping program) is interested in several similar items on auction at the same time, but only wants to win one of them. Thus, the buyer may "test the waters" of the most attractive item first, even though that auction is not the first one to end.
From a buyer's point of view (most of the time), Dutch-style sealed bids would be a nice alternative to the Ebay model. That ain't happenin'.

I don't seem to have much luck bidding early and allowing the eBay proxy system to work for me. Inevitably someone will chip away at my bid until they have won. I think psychology kicks in and if I think the item is worth a certain amount, then the other bidder thinks the same and keeps bidding.

You didn't really "win" the auction, you just paid the price everyone else refused to pay!

That is a good point. However, I have rarely seen incidents where the auction is ended by the seller. Sure it happens, but it is rarely.

I do the manual snipe.. I need to check into that that sniping software. On my home computer I can cue in at 1 1/2 seconds maybe even at the 1 second mark. At work, when Ebay was allowed, I lost because at the 3 second mark, my connection wasn't fast enough.

Some good advice here and some I do not agree with.

Like Chuckk, I decide what I want, I bid what I am willing to pay and that's it. However, I do win the bidding competition, not the item, so I do, in a sense, Win something.

The seller does not always win! In fact, the seller is often the only looser, if the item does not sell. There are no buyers, but the seller still had to pay Ebay's listing fees. Ebay is the only for sure winner, in my opinion.

As far as bidding goes, I put a minimum bid in, as soon as I see something I want. That bid remains unaltered, by me, until the last few seconds of the auction and then I deliver my top offer. After that, I wait, with breath held, hoping I win the competition and, ultimately, the item.

As for not wanting to wait until the end of an auction, the snipe thing is very popular. Personally, I have never used the system nor do I intend to. As someone else mentioned, bid dueling, during the last few seconds of an auction, once again with bated breath, is, indeed, fun!

I've found that most folks who are self-appointed-ebay-craiglist-experts, really don't know jack about either. As always on any action there are different theories. Some maybe good for person A, and not good for person B. But, to say because somebody complains, has less money (like they can see their bank account)blah, blah, blah, just shows PURE IGNORANCE.

Personally, I agree with the OP. I don't see any advantages to early bidding. I think it drives the price up, and alerts other bidders that I am interested, which also will drive the price up. However, others might have different strategies on bidding on Ebay and for them, their stratagy is good for them. If there way is different, I am not going to say they can't afford, don't have money, etc. That comes from blow-hards, that don't know jack period. Fair minded people can understand that different people can have different opinions about the same subject and they all be CORRECT.

Bid two, three or four times at small amounts. Shows other bidders that there's someone serious and insuring that there's a desire, this will scar off other bidders when looking at the bid tally. I use Auction Sniper which offers several incremental bids at the last few seconds, check it out! Cheers

I just rock and roll with the ebay app on my iPhone. It alerts me 2 minutes before an item ends so I can snipe it myself from the phone. I think it keeps it fun. I've used the free open source program esniper anytime there was something that I just "had" to have.

I've leaned that there's one sure fire way to win. Just bid higher than everyone else. Works every time

Yes, an early bid can remove a Buy it Now. Bidding early with a proxy max amount might work, but I've always found it more efficient to determine early on what I'm willing to pay, and then watch. In many cases, I decide that I'm not really that interested, or the price is higher than I'm willing to pay. Auctions work because people get competitive, but a smart bidder 1) waits and 2) has a reasonable max amount in mind, and no more.

That is a good one!! I have looked on some auctions, and see a couple bids, and I know that is going to go over my limit, and I pass!!

I am getting wiser.

I think Eprey and PP are a cheat and refuse to use them, so I could care less!

I can tell who goes to 'Vegas and who doesn't.....

Was this post neccessary? No, and it's Ebay and Paypal.

??

Except for the non-newbs who choose to use a different bidding strategy.

I've never won an auction for which I tried to bid as late as possible.
I've won items I really wanted by bidding mid-way through the process.
Occasionally I've won by bidding early to stake a claim. Maybe it scared people off, maybe it didn't.

Does that display interest? Of course. But when was the last time you saw, say, a Campy NR RD on ebay for which there wasn't interest?

But what the heck, maybe I'm a newb.

southpawboston put it right on the mark in regards to what I also do and agree with:

Not always ... but often I declare my interest at the earliest — as either the first or second bidder. I believe that it can sometimes legitimize me in regards to the seller. This may seem like a pile of BS, but my experience is that sellers have been very receptive, friendly and appreciative my interest — even when must have been yielding a very marginal if anything profit when I won. They have cooperated in a number of ways — such as shipping to Japan when their page has announced a non-international sale. I declare my interest from the start. They see my record as a buyer. I send a PM saying that I will cover any extra shipping. It is all about fair is fair. And when it isn't ... well of course I dump my interest.

And DUH — I bid what I consider what the item is worth! I do not escalate a bid by humping the price early. Early bidders don't as a general rule. But I do often declare interest. And if I lose — c'est la vie.

Sure ... I'll snipe. And someday I want an analog stop-watch. I know that I have won stuff cuz I've been close to the last second — and timing it on the second-sweep in my ancient Bulova 'Oceanographer' has seen me through. And I keenly suspect that some bidders have won over me because they really did have a stop watch — and perhaps a faster connection to the auction site.

Some people scream and rant over last-second-bidding ... er ... sniping. Hogwash! IMO, it is the stand-in for the tension and cadence of a stand-up and gavelled, live auction. Whining does not belong in auction houses. The whole affair is a punch-up.

I also admit to biting down on "Buy Now" options when I really feel the price is fair, and I am predicting that idiots could very well bid the deal up to stupid heights. Human nature is often about senseless, pyscho-warfare wherein the market is not of primary concern. Auctions are frequently won by morons with more money that brains. This must go back as far as the paleolithic.

Not to mention, it's "couldn't care less". A pet peeve of mine.

Randy: By what you say, I am assuming that you must be referring to referring to sniping software. When I use the verb "snipe", I mean ... as in last minute/second bid dueling. Perhaps I am out of date.

I must add to my last post by saying this: in bidding or sniping duels, I have sometimes paid just a bit over what I predetermined the value of the item. But the one thing that puts me at abeyance is my aversion to gambling and risk. I can write off the extra $5 on what I think is a $50 item, especially if it costs more here in Nippon or is unavailable. But I will not get carried up into the stratosphere in a bidding war. And in my experience, not many people will. It seems to me that the winning bid is a chiseling affair amounting to incremental bids and beating the seconds to win. If someone enters with a fat wallet at the tail end, then he she wins — and I am just as happy to lose!

And somebody else said "it's a mute point" up thread. That's one of MY pet peeves. It should be "moot" not "mute."

What if the point really has nothing to say?

Well put!!

Also, when those bidding wars start, 9 out of 10, the item is priced way over what you can buy it for somewhere else. I have seen bidding wars put a used item 30% over the same item brand new. Human nature is amazing.

Common Sense, which they don't give degrees for, through the length of my years, I have found out that everybody doesn't have it!!

Very good point!!