Quote Originally Posted by PhilipK View Post
There is never[*] any point in placing a bid on an eBay item before the final seconds of that auction - otherwise you give other people (whether the seller themself - where it's called shill bidding, and is illegal - or another user) an opportunity to decide to outbid you.

The three basic rules for placing a bid on eBay are:
  1. Bid once, and once only, on any auction
  2. Bid the maximum you would be happy to pay
  3. Bid as late as possible


[*] If you understand the concept of BIN Stomping, then you know enough to devise your own bidding strategy.
This. Plus the forth rule is always use a Sniping App to bid for you right at the last minute - I use "Mybidder Auction Sniper for Ebay" on Andriod. It'll do all the work for you and can bid 3 seconds before the end so no-one else will have time to react before the auction finishes.