Lost a bid by proxy!

Tonight I won five auctions in a row using Auction Sniper. The same person was a current high bidder on four of those. I watched as these auctions counted down. Human nature being what it is, I expected this guy to get PO'd at losing with only 5 seconds left. Sure enough, he came in on one auction that someone else had just displaced him from being high bidder, with a bid that had more of a margin than his other bids. But I anticipated this and had entered my own maximum bid accordingly. So he still lost. I may have paid more than I wanted, but putting all five auctions together, the price averages out nicely.

If I really want to win an item, my motto is Go Big or Go Home. Don't try to lead with only pennies. If you really want something, then go big. BUT BE PREPARED TO PAY BIG JUST IN CASE.

I recently lost an auction where the bid was $78.00 I came in at $130 and was outbid!! $150, $180 and finally $200, Outbid! Obviously he wanted it just as bad as I did, but he posted a $200 max bid days before I came along and did the same.

Manipool, you could track the auction visually and snipe manually, using AS as a backup snipe that is placed a few seconds later. If the bid winds up higher than the amount you set AS for it wouldn't matter, but on the other hand it might save you $.28 worth of bacon doing things that way.

Backup snipes may or may not save you from a higher proxy bid, but you might be able to get an idea of what your opponent's max bid could be by studying his past bidding record. I've increased my win percentage measurably by doing that.

Good luck!

One's opinion about the importance of "winning" an item obviously is a personal matter. I love to win an item when it is a genuine bargain, but I also feel I have "won" when I exercise some self-control and let the other bidder over-pay for an item. Unless I happen to be bidding on a very scarce collectible (which I rarely do), there is always a next time. One of the whole points of sniping is not getting caught up in competitive bidding, which only makes the price higher. Buyers will save money in the long run (and avoid those nagging feelings of buyer's remorse) if they decide on a maximum up front and refrain from placing any bid until the final seconds.

Oops, I meant Vince Lombardi, not Knute Rockne. Too bad you only have a half-hour to edit posts in this forum.

One thing I have learned is that if it's been on ebay once you will definitely see it again. I used to get bent when I lost an item but have found that that item will appear again and it will probably be cheaper! Hanging there man! It's nothing your going to die over if you lose!

An armed society is a polite society

You're right about winning not being everything, but it sure feels good when you strategize, research and end up winning the item at below what it sells for! Researching also tells you if some items might come up again.

Are we learning yet? I'm proud to say, yes!