Belt Auction

Ebay - any tips to be successful???

I just recently started to explore on Ebay. I have bid on things but have not been able to win anything yet. What are some tips to increase my chances of actually getting to win something. It seems like people are just lurking until the last minute. I have even tried the automatic bidding and have been unsuccessful there too. I am not looking at this as a business venture but just want to get a few things. Thanks for any advice you can share.

Public Comments

1. I am very experienced at ebay bidding. I buy almost everything I need off ebay (excpet of course gas and groceries and utilities) I always win when I want something. Bidding at the very last moment is the way to win. Decide what you want to go up to as a max and enter it in the last 10 seconds, if your computer is fast enough for this. If it goes above what you wanted to pay, oh well, you didn't want to pay that much anyway, if your bid outbids all others in the last 5 seconds and no one has enough time to enter a higher bid...you are the winner. It's ruthless but the way you need to operate to win. Good luck! *"Amani has a point about it being ruthless, but she seems proud about ruining someone elses chance that has been bidding from the start. I couldnt live that way if winning meant I had to cheat someone else, especially if they have earned it by being first to bid." I just need to comment about this... Being the first to bid doesn't entitle you to ANYTHING. The highest bid wins, if you are determined to win something from the beggining then enter a bid that is so high nobody will beat it. There is nothing in ebay rules and regulations that says you cannot wait until the last seond to bid, actually when you enter a bid early it tells you right then and there that most bids are placed in the last few minutes of the auction. Bidding early doesn't win auctions, playing the "ebay game" of bidding war in the last few seconds is what wins auctions. You can cut me down all you want but millions of others do exactly the same thing and that is how they win. I am not cheating anyone out of anything, I am just entering my bid, if someone bid higher than me then they are entitled to win. All I am doing is bidding on the items just like everyone else, in the last few seconds, because that is what WINS auctions, if I wanted to lose I would bid early but where does that get me? NOWHERE! So again, I am not "proud to be stealing" from people as I am not stealing, I am winning. I was just shairng me experience with this asker so she could also learn how ebay works and use it to benefit herself. Keep your rude comments to yourself, please, you do not know me, therefore, you cannot judge me. Thanks.
2. I feel for you, I have been in the same boat. Items I have bid on I have been the high bidder with 3 seconds to go and then been outbid. My sister (computer professor at a college) explained that there are "bot" programs (not the auto bid that ebay offers) that will place bids in the last 10 seconds or so that pretty much stop anyone from bidding higher if they are doing it manually. Ebay allows it because it makes them more money. About all you can do is put down the maximum that you are willing to pay and hope the "bots" don't outbid you. Amani has a point about it being ruthless, but she seems proud about ruining someone elses chance that has been bidding from the start. I couldnt live that way if winning meant I had to cheat someone else, especially if they have earned it by being first to bid.