I agree with the reviewer who said that sniping is an obvious bidding strategy. And while he does make some valid points, I disagree with his conclusion.

Disadvantages of sniping: If a last minute bid is less than the minimum allowed bid increment, the earlier bidder may win with a slightly lower amount. In bidding on items priced from $25 to $99.99, this amount is $1.

If there is an internet server or connection problem in the final seconds of the auction, your bid may not get entered. Sniping can also fail in the rare instance where a seller decides to cancel their auction due to an apparent lack of bidding interest.

Advantages to sniping: Sniping reduces the chance of being involved in a bidding war. Bidders can become very competitive during auctions, and will occasionally bid much more than is rational. I have done this myself and was fortunate that the other bidder won!

Your early bid is information that may attract other bidders. This especially applies to rare items, the value of which may be determined by interest. Some bidders will only appreciate the value of an item after other bids are posted.

Early bidders often enter a lower amount than they are willing to pay. If you leave them time to respond to your bid, you can end up paying more, or may lose the item you are bidding on.

Another advantage to sniping is that it may be used when you want to bid on several similar items but don't want to win more than one. Sniping services allow you to use grouped or contingent bidding. This allows you to line up multiple bids and as soon as one bid is successful, all other grouped bids are cancelled prior to being placed on eBay.

Ever been victim of shill bidding? It's a fraudulent practice used by unscrupulous sellers to inflate the price of an item by using another eBay ID to bid on their own item (and retracting bid if they go too far. Be especially careful if bidders' IDs are kept private). Sellers do not have much opportunity to conduct shill bidding against a snipe bid.

Conclusion: There has actually been research done (Roth and Ockenfels, 2000; Yang and Kahng, 2006) that suggests sniping is a rational price-minimizing strategy for bidders in eBay style auctions. Research also found that it is possible to gain additional information about the "true" value of the item by inspecting previous bids. More experienced buyers may delay bidding until the last minutes of the auction to avoid creating competition for their bids. Analysis of actual winning bids on eBay suggests that winning bidders are more likely to have placed a single bid late in the auction, rather than placing multiple bids as the auction progresses.

If you prefer to take the advice of a "Power Seller," that it is in your best interest to place your maximum bid early, then be my guest and do so. I'm sure that sellers will be most grateful for your efforts.

Let me acknowledge that some bidders can get pretty upset when they are outbid in the final seconds of an auction and there is no time left to respond. While that may be understandable, it is an irrational response because sniping is very much within the rules of the auction. Any valid bid placed prior to the end of the auction is allowed. You can use the rules to your advantage or argue that the rules aren't fair. It's your choice.

There are three basic ways to Snipe:

1) You can do it manually by waiting until 10 seconds before the end of the auction, and then submit your bid directly to eBay. The disadvantage of this approach is that you may be late. Typical situation: you try to do enter your bid and eBay asks you to re-login. There just isn't enough time left to log back in prior to the end of the auction. Also, you must be at your keyboard and your computer & internet connection must be working smoothly. If you don't want to spend your days waiting by the computer to enter your bid, this method isn't for you. While this can be a very exciting experience, there is a greater risk of becoming competitive and paying more than you should.

2) You can install software that will automatically submit your bid from your computer just before the end of the auction. Since this is automated, you are unleashed from your keyboard and it's less likely you will be late. You are installing software on your computer so you need to be sure it's from a reputable source and free of spyware/adware. Your computer, power and internet connection all has to be on and functioning.

3) You can use an online sniping service. This is my favorite method. Hosted servers have more reliable connections than you do at home. You can set your bid, turn your computer off, and do something else. If it is something you really want, you can combine a manual or software initiated bid with an online a service bid, just to be doubly sure. (Don't worry, you will not end up bidding against yourself when multiple bids are placed under your eBay user ID.) Using a sniping service does require that you provide your eBay username and password with a third party. While I have not had any problem with this, it is always a good idea to watch for any unauthorized use of your eBay ID. You can easily change your password if you suspect a problem.

There are a number of software and online services you can use for sniping. Make an online search and you will find plenty. I like the free ones:

Free online sniping service: Gixen

Free sniping software: JBidWatcher.

My personal experience with sniping is that when I am bidding for a bargain, my bid will be insufficient to win at least 4 out of 5 times. But when I do win, it is a bargain. When I'm bidding on something that I want badly enough to pay a competitive price, I win about half the time and often for significantly less than the maximum amount I'm willing to pay.
Kevin Reviewed by Kevin on . Best strategy for successful bidding with sniping http://i.imgur.com/cvQiuBG.png I agree with the reviewer who said that sniping is an obvious bidding strategy. And while he does make some valid points, I disagree with his conclusion. Disadvantages of sniping: If a last minute bid is less than the minimum allowed bid increment, the earlier bidder may win with a slightly lower amount. In bidding on items priced from $25 to $99.99, this amount is $1. If there is an internet server or connection problem in the final seconds of the Rating: 5