Belt Auction

Could I actually win an ebay auction if I bid on an item at the last minute?

Ive recently made the decision to make an ebay account, and I want to buy some trading cards off the site, but the prices are very very low. I want to try and see if I bid on an item with a minute left to bid (assuming nobody else bids on it) and hope that I win. Could that work, or am I just thinking this is going to be too easy?

Public Comments

1. most people bid at the last second so go to www.esnipe.com you have to pay a small fee but is very accurate
2. You could but someone might have an automatic bid already set and might out bid you. I'm not sure what the automatic bid thing is called but my bro in law was at work and he already had bids set in case someone else tried at the last minute to bid. So, someone might be one step ahead of you.
3. Bidding on the last minute is a tactic called sniping. It works but you have to be fast at re-bidding if you get outbidded. There are strategies but I'm sorry I won't be able to share them with you.
4. i allways wait till the last minute before i even make a bid. it often works. remember to put a max bid in, it helps
5. It can work, but on eBay, what shows as the highest bid may not actually be. For instance, let's say there's a trading card where the opening bid is $10, and I instruct eBay to bid up to $25 on my behalf. The current bid will show as $10. If you come in at the last minute and bid $11, I'll still win because my earlier bid saying I'll pay up to $25 will automatically bid for me at $12.
6. That is one of the best ways to make sure that you get the item you want. I have done it many times. Place it on your watchlist and you will be informed of bids placed on the item, and when time is running out for you. Then try bidding in the last minute or two. You will have to be really quick and alert though because many people have the same strategy.
7. Yes do that( maybe 40sec), but put in a maximum bid. e.g the current price is 1.00 your max bid is 5.00. That way if someone trys to outbid you in the last minute, thinking that the price is 1.00 they won't have enough time to strike back since they don't know what your maximum bid is. Hense losing the battle. But have you tried Amazon first? it's fixed price. Goodluck!