the elephant wrote:I think that this is called "Proxy Bidding" on eBay. It is the only way I bid, and I do not enter my first bid until about three minutes until the end; later is I can. It is risky and you lose a lot, but you never get caught up in the moment and overbid.
Not exactly, Wade. "Proxy bidding" is the default on eBay. If you submit a bid that's higher than the next bid increment, eBay bids only to that next increment unless someone subsequently bids higher than that.
Snipe uses proxy bidding, but you use a program or service that doesn't submit the bid until the last couple (and I do mean couple) of seconds of the auction. If there are other bids in force, the proxy amount gets resolved then--but otherwise, no one even knows that you were interested until after the auction is over.
That way, no malicious eBayers who know that you routinely buy this kind of stuff are tempted to jack the price up unnecessarily on you.
Some of the other auction sites extend the auction end by a fixed amount after every bid close to the end, which is a whole different kettle of fish.