This is a cheat!
The subject says the "case FOR bidding manually first, then sniping later", but everyone is making the case AGAINST.
So here are the pros.
1. Ebay goes wrong during the last minute of the auction. Noone else really notices, but I am laughing all the way to the bank!
2. If a well known seller is offering an item at obviously well below its value, what is the point in hiding my interest?
3. The same regular sellers like me bidding early, so they offer me some nice extra bargains.
4. Other snipers don't like seeing lots of action on items early, so they look for something else that seems to have attracted less interest.
5. The most satisfying tactic in all Ebay is the sucker punch. Let some nibbler think they have crept past my proxy, then snipe them.
6. It sometimes helps to find out whether or not I am likely to be buying an item before its auction ends.
The are often several snipers bidding for the items I like, which are usually difficult to value. If all the other serious bidders are sniping, the advantage shifts to the early proxy bid. I believe mixing bidding styles, including nibbling (
), can work best.