Bid & Snipe...or just Snipe?

Jeff, the only reason I'll enter an "open" bid on eBay is to short-circuit a "Buy It Now" situation. Otherwise I simply wait 'til the end of the auction and let AS do its stuff. Bidding out in the open only invites competition. Doing so because "my bid is the first" only helps when an opposing bid is identical to the one you entered. In case of a tie, you win. The mathematical odds against that happening are enormous. It's just not worth tipping your hand and showing others you're interested, often drawing a few "trackers" who follow you around and bid on what you've found. Bidding out in the open also triggers a "bidding frenzy" fairly often. My advice would be to pretend you're a submarine -- "Run Silent, Run Deep."

jshort - steve is right. With AS there is no point putting in a manual bid on ebay as well (except to stifle a Buy It Now). This is especially the case if you collect certain classes of items. I know who my rival bidders are in my categories so I have a look at what they have bids in for and often find out about items I did not find thro' normal searching. Bingo! I set up a snipe and take the candy away from the baby at the last second! Unfortunately there are some rivals who are also snipers - so I cannot track what they are bidding on until it is too late. The whole thing about AS and timed auctions is you gain nothing from revealing your cards too early.

follow someone to see what they are bidding on? That is a really interesting idea!
I am a newbie so sorry if that is a dumb question.
Regards,
Fred

Fred, from the eBay home page click on the "Search" tab at the top. On the resulting page click on the "By Bidder". Put your opposition's username or e-mail address in the window of the next screen and make sure there's a dot in the little circle for "Yes" next to "Include Completed Items." You'll get all items that the user has bid on or purchased within the last 30 days. Have fun!

That was nice of you to reply, and a good idea too. I have read an opponents feedback and then looked at each auction, but that isn't very current.

Fred, if the prevous auctions of your opponents are not that current it still tells you, say, they don't go for everything you go for, that they can be choosy. Have you looked to see the timing of their bids (through bid history)? You will be able to find out if you are up against a fellow sniper. Look at their lost bids - do they lowball with their bids? Do they have a typical bid amount for certain items? Have they bid in categories you would not have thought about searching in before?

No one is saying you will find the earth out about the other bidders but it is better than nothing.