How To Win Auctions On Ebay
How do we know the best way to nab those fantastic collectables, electronic equipment, furniture or even salt shakers on eBay? In a study that gives the lie to the notion that eggheads don't like to eyeball online auctions like normal folks, a study by South Korean physicists confirms via some elaborate mathematical modeling that "sniping", waiting for the very last second to submit your bid on that Elvis-shape throw rug is indeed a rational and effective strategy to win in an eBay auction.
EBay is the king of online auction sites. Sellers put up items for sale and buyers bid up the price. The service sets a deadline on bids for items, which has given rise to the practice of "sniping," bidding at the last minute to deny other bidders time to outbid you.
Savvy buyers have taken to the practice in swarms. Sellers, however, have grumbled that the practice keeps winning bid prices lower than they would be in a more open-ended auction, in which prices may be driven up by competition between buyers. If nobody bids until the last second, it's inevitably just a relatively low-bidding person who puts in the highest-price bid and walks away with the item.
How To Do This?
At the last minute/seconds of the auction:-
Enter how much are you willing to pay for an item? (your highest bidding price) e.g. $10.00, then enter $10.02.
This is so that you don't get caught up in a bidding war and pay more than you would will be happy with.
So, sniping is a good strategy, for those with the time to do it.
A statement on the eBay site says: Sniping is part of the eBay experience, and all bids placed before a listing ends are valid — even if they're placed one second before the listing ends.