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Why do you think that asking questions makes people 'bid up' (the term you want is called 'shilling'..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shill)?
Surely, they want the BEST price they can get; they don't suddenly think... 'Ooooo... he's asking questions so I have suddenly realised it wasn't worth 50p, it must be worth �5,000'
Sellers are EXACTLY like you (and all the rest of us) because that is exactly who they are: US.
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Think through the Ebay concept: who benefits from placing an early bid? Does it stop anyone ELSE from bidding unless you have already bid FAR too much for the item?
Ideally, you do NOT want to bid until the VERY last moment; in that way, you make sure you do NOT show your hand. Anyone else who was GOING to attempt to outbid the highest bid at the last moment will not be given enough time to 'correct' their bid.
Theree are web sites that will do this last moment 'targetting' for you but I find a simple stopwatch does the job for me. The technique is to:- * wait until there is EXACTLY ten minutes to go (you'll see the 'end time' displayed) and start your stopwatch * Log into your account (that is ESSENTIAL) and watch the process. * Set an ABSOLUTE limit that you WILL spend in your mind and be CERTAIN that it is worth it to you if you DO get it at that TOP price. If it is NOT going to be worth it, then re-set you idea of a Top Limit! Do not even THINK about bidding less than the TOP price that you will pay! You will be SERIOUSLY annoyed if someone else gets it for a price that you WOULD have been willing to pay! * When there is about 30 seconds to go, start the placing of your bid at your HIGHEST possible bid: you will get to the part where it asks you to confirm your bid and WAIT there until somewhere between 10 and 5 seconds until you CONFIRM your bid!
If someone else was 'watching' and you place your bid during those 10 seconds, it really is NOT easy for them to make a NEW 'high bid' in that last moment. Any such higher bid will already BE in the system (and you cannot alter that) and is waiting to be triggered by the NEXT highest bid.
The point is that the automated bidding system will put your bid-in increasing steps until it either:-
beats the NEXT highest bid or
the other bids exceed the maximum you are willing to pay.
Either way, you will have either BOUGHT it at the cheapest price that was POSSIBLE for the item or the item will have priced itself out of your reach and you would not have got it no MATTER WHAT you'd done.... except if you'd have paid more and we know that you have ALREADY bid the highest price yoiu are willing to pay for it, don't we!!
All that bidding earlier does is to show OTHERS BIDDERS that you are interested.... why on EARTH would you want to do THAT?
If you think (and have ANY evidence) that the seller is 'shilling', then simply report them. It is ILLEGAL! However, I'd like to know how you can tell it IS the seller who is raising the bid rather tna another GENUINE bidder from the VERY limited information that is shown about the bidders! You may SUSPECT it but I can't see how you can possibly KNOW it's the seller who is 'shilling'.
Ian
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