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T206Collector...you will either lose or pay more than you would if you sniped. Auctions are not a particularly rational market, and placing a bid early will encourage other bidders to outbid you -- or bid into your proxy bid -- until they beat you. The only people that are helped by early bids are the sellers. That is why, of course, the standard line from auction houses and sellers alike is, "Bid Early and Often."
In addition, with the advent and proliferation of VintageCardPricer and such ebay tracking softwares, everyone knows what the last card went for and new entrants into the market for that card are likely to bid over that amount to win the card, if they need it. It is an upward spiral that, to some extent, explains the rising prices of vintage cards.