Instructions:
1) Consider sniping the eBay auction if you want to pay a cheap price. Snipers, those who place a maximum bid with proxy service to be entered automatically seconds before the auction closes, often do win the auction at a price they want. If you snipe, and never physically bid on eBay, you also avoid the dreaded "bidding fever" that jacks up the price.
2) To win the eBay item cheap, place the auction in your Watch list. Now search on eBay for duplicates. Commonly, a seller will list several auctions for duplicates of the same item. Ironically, many eBay bidders are often drawn to only one auction listing, bidding up the price, while the other auction listings go unnoticed. Place any duplicate listings in your eBay watch list as well so you can bid on the lowest priced one.
3) Study the eBay auction listing closely, reading every detail about the condition of the item and examining each picture. Learn the current market value of the auction item by searching for completed listings on eBay in the Advanced Search and noting what similar items have sold for recently. This research is helpful if you want to win eBay items in auctions cheap.
4) Armed with this information, decide on the amount you're willing to pay on eBay. Be cheap, but be realistic. Form a range from your most desired price to the maximum price you're willing to go. Write these numbers down.
5) Determine the time and day the eBay auction ends. Plan to be present for the end of the auction. You are unlikely to win the auction item at a cheap price unless you are there to monitor the auction's end.
6) Now comes the hard part. Wait. Bite your nails and resist the urge to bid on the eBay auction. Forget about your wish to win the auction. Forget about wanting a cheap price. Watch. Watch as others bid up the item or as the item seems to go unnoticed. (It's not. There's a 99% chance you'll have competition.)
7) Unless your connectivity is suspect or your computer is prone to crashes, wait to place a bid on the auction until the last ten minutes of the auction. Right before it's time to place the bid, drink a cup of soothing herbal tea. Repeat this mantra: "I will not engage in bidding fever just because I desperately want to buy this auction item at a cheap price. I will not engage in bidding fever....I will not...oops, it's time to bid!"
8) Place the first of what will be several bids on the eBay auction. Bid up the item only a small increment (say, a couple of bucks for a $20 item). Your goal here is not to win the auction right now, but rather to bid just above the current highest proxy bid. Keep placing these small increment bids until you are the current high bidder. Place one more proxy bid in a small increment to top off your own bid. (As with all proxy bids, it won't count until your competition bids you up.)
9) Now pause. Here you are bluffing it out - giving the impression you're done, that you reached your maximum. This will psyche the other eBay bidders into placing a maximum bid of their own that is less than their true maximum - in other words, keeping their bids "cheap."
10) It's best not to even check to see whether you're winning the auction or not. But who has that kind of discipline? Refresh the auction listing to see the current status of the bidding. Repeat every ten seconds until just one minute before the eBay auction ends.
11) One minute before the auction ends, enter your maximum bid determined in Step 3. Do this whether or not you are currently the high bidder or not. Confirm the bid and step away from the computer. Forget about eBay. Don't look back. You've done all you can to win an auction item on eBay cheap.
12) Go fetch your cup and sip the dregs of your soothing herbal tea. Now return to your computer and check the auction on eBay. If all went well, you've just managed to win the eBay item at your maximum bid price or less...as cheap as you can. If not...well, nothing is guaranteed, not even that rare limited edition 1928 Mickey Mouse paperclip holder that you were sure nobody else wanted the way you wanted it...
13) This method is one of the best ways to win an eBay auction at the cheapest price possible. You won't win every auction cheap, but you will win some. And most importantly you'll never be kicking yourself for buying something on eBay that you can't afford.
Tips and Warnings:
At any point, if the eBay auction is bid up higher than your maximum bid price, walk away. Say goodbye. As they say in Buddhist philosophy, just...let it go. Early first bids rarely win eBay auctions. To win eBay items in auctions cheap, ignore any suggestions to place early bids. Ignore the temptation to place a maximum proxy bid. Proxy bids and early bids don't discourage competitive bidding. They drive up bid prices. Understand the psychology of auction bidding and the behavior of eBay bidders. Bids are driven up by competitive bidding fever. Bidders are extremely likely to top their highest bid when they compete against one or more other bidders.
Bid irregular amounts likely to top similar bids. For example, $18.53 or $18.01 will top $18.50 or $18.00 bids, respectively. However, bidding irregular amounts likely to fall just under similar bids, such as $17.99, will quickly lose you the auction. Snipers, those who place automated or manual bids in the last few seconds before an auction ends, may snipe the auction item out from under you. There's not much you can do about this except use a sniping service, yourself, and bidding your true maximum.
Source - eHow
