There are programs that will do a whole lot of eBay-related things - sniping bids, only bidding on similar items if an initial auction was lost, and knowing the average value that particular items have sold at in the past, for instance. But most 'snipers' (i.e. people who try to just get over your bid at the last minute) are just sad people who wait at their computer for ages...

I don't really have a problem putting in bids early, nor with people who put in a realistic bid late. Bidding early suits my style of browsing. And AFAICS the people who bid in small increments end up actually being better for me, because usually they give up if they can see my bid is still beating theirs after a turn or two. If they'd put in the total amount they'd been prepared to bid first, then I'd probably end up paying more, or losing the auction. Fundamentally it doesn't change the equation against me too much, that I can see.

But in, oh, 20 or so auctions, I've been the first to bid in over 80% of them, and 80% of them have gone for my first (lowest) bid amount. So realistically I've yet to find what someone else above was talking about - that items already bid on go for more than if you peg it at the last minute. And there's the added bother of being online at whenever the auction is about to end, and the chance that you'll actually spend all that time and money online and still lose the auction.

I'll just keep bidding early and winning often, thanks

Paul