“THE SECRET TO WINNING AUCTIONS” (Without Paying Too Much)
   Most auctions are won or lost in the last few seconds of bidding. Often this is due to the fact that many people, even seasoned eBayers, still use manual bids, with maximum bids that are just slightly above the current highest bid. As a result, in the last few seconds of the auction, they run out of time to raise their bid to a winning amount. They lose when they could have won.

   As an example, let’s say you have been bidding on an item that has increased to $33 in the last minute of bidding. You manually enter an increased bid of $34 during the last few seconds and another bidder enters a bid of $35 and wins the auction. You lose, even though you would have gone up to $50. You never got a chance to raise your bid because you were bidding manually and ran out of time at the end of the auction. The other bidder won the item for $15 LESS than you were willing to pay.

   Another problem with manual bidding is that you may get caught up in the emotion of the auction and enter a bid for far more than you had planned on spending for an item. You won, but you paid too much. There is no reason for either of these unhappy circumstances to happen. Let me show you how to use automatic bidding to win without paying too much.
  
   Here is the key. BEFORE you start bidding, decide what you want your ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM bid to be for an item. You should say, “I am willing to pay this amount and not a penny more”. If you have to pay any amount up to your ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM, you will be happy to win the item. If someone else pays a penny more and you lose, you will be happy because you did not want to pay that much.

   Once you have determined your ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM, it is time to bid. Go to the item page and press the PLACE BID button. This will take you to the place bid page. Enter your ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM bid amount into the box, then click CONTINUE. This will take you to the confirm bid page. Make sure your ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM is correct, then click CONFIRM BID. You are all set up. Just sit back and enjoy the show or go do something else.

   Automatic bidding will enter a bid for you that is the MINIMUM REQUIRED to make you the winner. If a higher bid comes in, automatic bidding will increase your bid the minimum amount needed to make you the winner. Automatic bidding will continue to keep you in the winning position until the end of the auction (in which case you win with a bid at or below your ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM) or until someone enters a bid that is higher than your ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM (in which case you are happy because you were not willing to pay that much).

   Here’s an example. You have found an item you want to bid for. The current bid is $25. You decide that you are willing to pay as much as $100 for the item and not a penny more. $100 is your ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM. You place your ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM bid at $100 and press the CONFIRM BID button. Automatic bidding will enter a winning bid of only $26 for you. Every time someone enters a higher bid, automatic bidding will enter a bid for you of only $1 more to keep you in the winning position. Toward the end of the auction the item is up to $55 and you are in the winning position. Another bid comes in for $60 and you are still in the lead automatically at $61. In the last 5 seconds of the auction someone bids $79 thinking they will win but you win automatically with $80. You win for twenty dollars less than your ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM. Throughout all this, you didn’t have to do anything at all. It’s all done automatically for you.  You don’t even have to be in front of your computer unless you just want to watch the action.

   Even if someone enters a bid of $100 in the last second, you still win because in the case of a tie, the earliest bid wins. Because you placed your ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM bid early in the auction, you are in the winning position. The only way you would lose the item is if someone entered a bid higher than your ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM. In that case, they would win the item and you are happy because you didn’t want to pay that much for it. They paid too much, not you.

   Now you know the secret to winning without paying too much. Try this winning method in the next few auctions you bid on. You will find that you will win more auctions in the last few seconds and you will never get suckered into paying more than your ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM for any item. Have more fun and win more on eBay.