• There are a number of effective techniques that you can use to ensure that you pay the highest possible price for an eBay item:

1. Don't spend the time to see if there are other examples of the same item available at a lower current bid.  The item is closing in 23 minutes and you simply MUST have it NOW.
2. Use eBay's 'newly listed' category listings to find what you are looking for and immediately post a bid when you find one.  The fact that items with bids tend to be examined more often and more closely by other potential bidders is irrelevant.
3. Leave a 'marker' bid.  When you first find an item of interest, bid on it immediately so it appears in your 'My eBay' as a reminder that you want to post a serious bid later.  The fact that other bidders with similar interests will eventually note your behavior and save gobs of time by simply searching for items you are bidding upon to find items that they are interested in is irrelevant!
4. Never bid more than one bidding increment above the current bid even though your bid will probably be topped in the next five minutes and you will just have to enter another single increment bid.  And besides, it is competitive fun (even though items with large numbers of bids REALLY attract lots of other bidders).
5. Ignore shipping charges.  Just because the seller charges $5.00 to send the item in a business envelope with a 39 cent stamp doesn't mean that you can't brag to your friends that you won an item worth $3.00 for only 75 cents (plus shipping)!
6. Let other bidders define what you think an item is worth.  That $30 bid on the item that you originally thought was only worth $20 absolutely means that you were wrong.  Bid again!
7. Use a proxy bid for your maximum bid as early as possible.  Even if you don't follow rule #6, you can ensure that other bidders with a #6 mind set will enter fourteen bids against your proxy until they either give up in frustration, run out of time, or top your bid.  And besides, you can always enter another bid if they top you!
8. Don't wait until the last 10 seconds prior to the close of bidding in order to enter your first bid on an item.  This is just too much trouble!  And, besides, there are other bidders who have noticed that you are knowledgeable about the type of item up for sale.  How can your impress them with your knowledge so that they can 'follow' you as a way of finding good stuff if you don't bid until the last moment?

And, finally, remember, WINNING IS EVERYTHING!  Your self worth is determined by the fact that you can outbid anybody in the world!  By carefully following the rules above, you can be absolutely certain that you will pay the highest possible prices on eBay and win almost every auction that you bid upon.

Addendum:

It is interesting that this guide has received a much lower positive voting proportion than my other guides.  I can only assume that:

• Some eBay users don't understand sarcasm

       or

• Some eBay users don't like being informed that they have been wasting their money