I’ve been bidding on a lot of eBay Pokemon card auctions lately, and was wondering what the best strategy is to take in an auction format? Is it best to put a high bid up front and let people compete against your high bid, or bid close to the end in the final minutes? I used to the think the the latter worked best, but with more competition as the hobby has grown(a very good thing!) it seems I’m having more success with the former as of late.
I look at it like this: With any item, you should establish a maximum amount that you are willing to and can afford to spend. Bidding early and high shows other bidders that there is competition for the item, but you are locked in at a comfortable price. Trying to snipe an item late with that same bid amount is also a valid strategy, you just need to learn to accept the disappointment if your bid wasn’t high enough. The takeaway is to know an item’s value to you, and don’t overextend yourself because you see others are willing to spend more than you. Set a budget and stick to it!
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Bidding large early can deter people who don’t want to compete.
If you want to snipe, Gixen is great! You enter the listing and your max price, and it auto bids at the end.
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I usually wait until 20 Seconds before the end and type in my max bid.
But I should really set up something like Gixen.
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I never bid early I wait till the very end like seconds away from ending a put my bid in. I figure why pump up the price more than it needs to me.
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I use the proxy bidding service every time. I figure out what I want to pay and put in the bid as soon as I see the auction. Takes too much time to follow along especially with the volume of items I sometimes bid on and many end at times I wouldn’t be available or wouldn’t want to be watching an auction. It keeps emotions out of it and avoids circumstances where you forget, internet is out or whatever other reason for screwing up a snipe at the end.
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I almost never put in a bid until 3 seconds prior to ending. The only exception is if I put in an early $1 bid or something as a way to watch and get notifications on the item.
I’ve never been ‘scared away’ by an early bid. The item is either above or below what I am willing to pay. I will watch it until it goes above, whether that is in the first 10 minutes of the auction or the last 5 seconds. One thing to remember about bidding early too is that you open yourself up to potential shilling
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I agree.
I use Gixen, it is great, the free one at the moment, but I will upgrade to premium, just to support them(6/8$ year).
What can I say…it’s free, it’s easy, it avoids “emotional bidding”(and regrets), and it doesn’t forget about that auction that ends at 05:30 a.m.
I just bid the maximum that I want to spend, and that’s all, the sniper place my bid at 6 second to the end of the auction.
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I’ve never used a proxy bidding system before, so I will definitely give Gixen a try! Thanks!
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I just wait till last 3-5 seconds and bid my max most of the time it’s worked but occasionally get out bidded
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90% of the time I’ll schedule a snipe, but the other 10% is strategic and shouldn’t be ignored. There’s times doing both makes sense. You learn stuff over time.
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Like most others ITT I use Gixen, it’s great, I’ve used it for years
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I wait until the last 5 seconds and put in my max bid. Sometimes I’ll put in a small bid early just so I get a reminder. This system seems to be working pretty well for me.
I’m curious to when this 10% applies. The only time I’ve ever placed a bid on an item with more than an 10 minutes remaining is when I can’t be available. Otherwise you’re just upping the auction price for the sake of it.
I just tried Gixen for the first time today after reading this thread and it’s indeed as awesome as described. Literally sniping auctions in my sleep. Although I do still like the rush of “babysitting” some auctions to watch the final 10 seconds unfold live.
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I use Gixen unless ebates has a discount for toys & hobbies, in which case I’ll set an alarm to bid in the waning seconds assuming the auction ends at a time that makes it reasonable for me to do that.
You know you can win the auction using Gixen and pay with ebates after, right?
I thought that didn’t work and that you had to win the auction (or BIN) with ebates open (i.e., best offer doesn’t work, and having ebates open when you pay doesn’t work).
I only use ebates when it’s time to pay and I still get the cheques in the mail 
Great to know. That certainly makes my life easier.