Hidbid.com - The eBay Auction Sniper

[freddy]

Question:

I just now put in a bid on the same phone I missed earlier today and put a $150.69 bid on it now thru hidbid, the current bid is $51.00. Do you feel I should put in a manual bid on ebay also or just leave it alone and hope that I will win it at the end at the 5 second mark?

Reply:

Ask yourself if $150.69 is the maximum that you want to bid on the item. If so, I would say to just leave it alone. Set your snipe to bid the absolute maximum that you want to bid on the item.
I imagine you are asking this because of what happened with the auction that you scheduled a snipe for earlier today, in which your bid was higher than the winning bid but did not meet the minimum bid increment in order for your maximum to be placed (which you explained in a previous message).
I am guessing that 75% + of the time that happens, the winning bidder's maximum was also higher than the winning bid and even if you're bid did meet the minimum bid increment, you would have still been outbid.
It is easy to think "if I just bet a dollar or two more I would've won", when in actuality that is often not the case. Just because the winning bid was just a dollar or two more than your maximum doesn't mean that was the winning bidder's absolute maximum.
Still, this shows why you want to be the first (if they are any other) snipe that is submitted to eBay -- if two bids are the same or there is not enough difference between them to meet the minimum bid increment, the first bid in wins.