Why the last second bid....................

[DixieBaseball]

I never put a top bid in and let it sit there for 7-10 days so the seller or even an overactive competitive bidder will run it up to beat me out or take the bid to my high bid, so I can pay more... Perfect example was last week, I bid on a card that I was a bit indifferent on for sale on ebay, so I put a bid in on day 1 of $222 and let it set for 7 days, and wouldn't you know it, on the last day of bidding a bidder with 0 feedback outbids me at $223, then within 12 hours of the auction ending, the seller sends me a 2nd chance offer to buy the item. I reported the seller to Ebay, and didn't buy the card for $222, which was my original high bid. I rarely bid like this, but occassionally will put a soft bid in to track a card or see what happens, and I feel that about 1/3 ro 1/2 the time I put a top bid in early, it is inevitable my bid gets beat or run up to the top. I rarely lose out when I put a last second bid in, and I generally get the card for way less than expected. I have bought thousands of items on ebay, and to me there is only one way to bid on ebay to make sure you don't overpay. That is to bid in the final seconds whether it be sniping or just popping a bid in...