When bidders wait until the final seconds of an auction to place their bid, this is known as bid sniping. And it is perfectly legal. Ebay has no rules concerning when you bid, at the beginning or the end of an auction, or anywhere in between.
Snipers believe they have a better chance of winning an auction if they save their bid for the last few seconds. After all, that leaves no time for anyone to outbid you, right? Well, maybe.
The truth is, bid sniping is far from a sure thing. Here are some reasons why:
1. Another sniper may be bidding on the same auction; his bid, if it arrives a fraction of a second before yours, will count, while yours won't.
2. An earlier bidder may have an automatic bid in place. That means the amount he bid is higher than the minimum, and when you bid, his higher bid automatically kicks in, outbidding you.
3. If either 1. or 2. takes place, you can bid higher yet. But you may not have time if you waited until the auction's final seconds.
4. Many auctions also have a Buy It Now price that sells the item immediately, bypassing the bidding process. Until the first bid is placed, the Buy It Now is in force, and someone could snatch it away without giving you a chance to bid at all.
5. Don't discount the possibility of internet or equipment failure. It does happen, leaving you zero time to find another device or a hotspot before the auction runs out.
6. Then there's the ever-popular memory failure. I wish I had a nickel for everyone who emailed me after the fact, crying that they meant to come back and bid before the auction ended.
Allow me to present a better strategy.
Place your bid early, before anyone else, and make it low, even just the minimum. Then return some hours later and up your own bid to your absolute maximum. Let me explain why.
By bidding first you have the chance of getting the desired object at the minimum possible price. No one else has that option.
An auction with a bid may serve to frighten off some potential rival bidders; they have no way of knowing how high you really bid and might go looking for greener pastures.
Anyone who checks will see that you have upped your own bid. This makes it clear that simply bidding the minimum fifty cents above you will be useless, as you've already gone higher yet. It gives the impression that you are a serious bidder and they may not want to waste their time bidding against you.
And since you've already set your maximum bid, there is no need to bid again and no chance of accidentally spending more than you can afford.
This is not a guarantee of victory, of course. If you can only spend $50, you have no chance of beating the Rockefeller willing to spend $500. In fact, the only sure bid is one so high that no one in their right mind would outbid you. But if you don't have pockets quite that deep, then give our strategy a try and see if it doesn't work better for you than sniping.
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