Online auction buying tips and tricks

Bid at the last minute - A.K.A. Auction Sniping

If possible don't bid until the last minute. This helps stop the price being pushed up.

One technique is to open two browser windows. One browser window to watch the auction time count down, and the other where you have already entered your highest bid and only need to click the button to confirm it. This way you can place your bid in the dying seconds of the auction, hopefully surprising any other interested buyers.

The danger with this is if your bid isn't high enough, you could get outbid and you won't have much time to counter.

Note the auction finish time

When adding items to your 'watch list', take special note of the finish time. Auctions finishing at an unusual times will receive fewer bids in the final stages. The final hour or two is when the majority of bids are made.

For instance, if an item you are watching finishes at 4am there will be fewer people awake to see it ending. You can pick up some real bargains by bidding when there when no one else to bid against you. You can pick up some real bargains like this.

Take advantage of listing mistakes

People sometimes put their items in the wrong category or making spelling mistakes. This is probably the hardest way to find a bargain, but if you do find such an item you will be one of the few who do.

An example is someone selling a 'Playstation'. If they spell it 'Palystation' people searching for 'Playstation' won't see it.

Similarly an item could be listed in the wrong category where buyers won't find it.