How to Win eBay Auctions  

The amount of times I have lost auctions by pennies is countless. To stop you suffering the same ‘humiliating defeat’, I have hereby offered my expert advice for people having a hard time winning auctions (or for people looking for insider knowledge).

Here are a few pointers if you really want to win that item you’ve been tracking for days …

There are 4 main ways to win these auctions:

1) Incremental bidding.

This means that the bidder (you) places an initial bid and will keep an eye on the price. Should you be outbid at any time, you will bid to the next highest amount until you are once again the highest bidder. This is the most common form of bidding on e-Bay.

Pros.

• The bidder can inch their bids without the other people knowing and win at a low price.
• Very effective if done on the last day of auction.
• Great strategy for items with limited or no interest.

Cons.

• Bidders may create a bidding war causing the price to go artificially high.
• Not effective for items with lots of interest.
• You are prone to losing the auction at the last few minutes.

2) Forcing.

This means that the bidder (you) places an initial bid that is so high, that no-one on God’s-Green-Earth will catch you (i.e. the item price is £10, you put in £200 and win it for £15 for example). You will almost guarantee to win the auction. This is less common than incremental bidding and is hardly ever used.

Pros.

• The bidder is almost guaranteed to win the auction.
• Puts other bidders off the item because they feel they can’t win it.
• Great strategy for items that you desperately want.
• Effective with high-interest items.
• You don’t have to be at a computer when the auction ends.

Cons.

• Bidders may increase the price to make it artificially high.
• You are still prone to losing the auction should someone enter a higher price than you, but the chance of that is highly unlikely.

3) Sniping.

This is the most devious form of bidding, but can be quite effective if you know how to do it. This means that the bidder (you) waits until the final few minutes/seconds to place your bid on the item. It will come as a shock to the previous higher bidder because they do not have time to respond. You win the auction at a good price. The guy you just outbid goes home with nothing …

Pros.

• This method can be used effectively to win auctions sneakily.
• Very effective if done properly, to gain items cheap.
• Great strategy for items with high interest.

Cons.

• You have to sit at a computer and wait … and wait … and wait for those last few minutes or seconds to place your bid. It’s time consuming and boring.
• Sniping is useless if you have no access to a computer at the time of auction deadline.
• Even if you snipe, you face the risk of losing the auction due to computer malfunctions, connection speed, ‘forcing bidders’ and other snipers. You will not be the only one trying to win this auction!
• You could lose the auction by pennies! 

Most recently with the advent of technology, there are companies out there who offer to snipe your auctions for you…

4) Automated Sniping.

Whilst I have an automated sniping account, I will not recommend it 100%. What automated sniping does, is wait until the dying SECONDS of an auction and then it will place a bid for you. This could potentially win an auction for you for a low price and other bidders will not have time to react. This is a key advantage to the world of bidding on eBay. It will come as a shock to the previous higher bidder because they do not have time to respond. There are lots of software around, most of them do exactly the same thing: take your money in exchange for the service they provide. Just punch it in a search engine and hundred will come up.

Pros.

• The most efficient way of winning auctions.
• If used properly, items are gained exceptionally cheap.
• Unlike manual sniping, you don’t have to be at the computer – it’s done for you on a remote server.
• Great strategy for items with any interest level.

Cons.

• It’s relatively expensive, especially if you pay for a ‘per-snipe’ package.
• If you want to bid higher, but only have a minute or so left, you can’t. It will not override.
• You cannot change your mind once a bid has been submitted for sniping.
• Even if you snipe, you STILL face the risk of losing the auction due to errors on their server, incorrect bids, too-low bids, ‘forcing bidders’ and other snipers.
• You will not be the only one using automated sniping software!
• You could still lose the auction by pennies!
   

So what is my opinion? If you absolutely, positively must win the auction, then Forcing is the method of choice. You can try and Snipe the auction, but I guarantee, someone else will be doing the same. It’s best to put in a bid that no sniper will outbid you on.
Incremental bidding is good for items with limited or no interest, so keep looking at the hit-counter at the bottom of these adverts.
If you can afford it, buy some sniping software. This is the most effective way to win these auctions … but you are still not guaranteed to win it. The software will work, but only if a forcer hasn’t bid a higher amount than you.

If you have found this guide remotely helpful, help others by voting 'YES' below to get this noticed and spread the word on how to actually win these auctions. Don't be fooled by these other idiots who will tell you otherwise for their own greedy gain.