I'm bidding on a guitar, a fairly inexpensive one, but I've seen it and played it.

Question

Is it better to just watch the bidding and then determine in the last 15 min or so what your Maximum bid will be or should you manually bid?  How does it work if eBay is bidding for you up to your maximum?  Is it reliable to the max or can you get shut out anyway.

You can always get shut out by someone putting in a higher bid than your max, butthe auto bid thing works properly.  Don't put in bids until the very end.

www.justsnipe.com is free, and will wait until 5 seconds before the auction ends to bid on your behalf.

www.bidnip.com/

Try bidsnip.  It's an automatic sniper program that bids on your behalf.  The first five bid snipes are free.

If your max is higher than the other guy you win if you bid first.

If you really want it, wait until the last couple of minutes to bid.

Wait till the last minute and bid.  If you get an automatic rebid by the other guy most likely they are using a program.

If you really want it bid high and you will get it.

Quoted: I'm bidding on a guitar, a fairly inexpensive one, but I've seen it and played it. Question Is it better to just watch the bidding and then determine in the last 15 min

Exactly! This is called sharpshooting. You DO NOT bid on the item, this will only drive up the price and alert other bidders that there is another contender.

Put it in your watched items list, note the time it will end. With a half hour to spare, log in with a cup of coffee and get ready to enjoy the fun. The faster your internet connection, the better.

DO NOT bid until the last 5 minutes. Be prepared to bid several times in a row as the last bidder may have set a higher bid than what shows. If others are sharpshooting (likely if it is a hot item) get ready to volley back with your bid, but know what you max bid is, lest you pay more than you intended.

Know when to let go. Also be aware of shipping fees, some sellers charge more in shipping than the item is worth.

Most items I bid on for gun related items do not have other sharpshooters to tussle with, but about 25% do.

The bidsnipe sites work, but you have to give them your account information. that's something I will not do.

Good hunting.

My way is pretty much the same as above but I do not ever make multiple bids. I simply figure out my max, what im willing to shell out for a particular item, and literaly watching a second hand on a watch set up to ebays time exactly, i toss my bid in at 7-9 seconds. Make sure your signed on to ebay and refresh the page super fast. At 12 seconds I type in my MAX bid, at 7 seconds on the second hand i click submit and if its meant to be i win. Bidding on an item early only raises the price. Ive also found when watching items. Its easyer to win an item if theres somthing big going on on TV. A football game makes it easy to win  items dureing the  game since ALOT of people tend to forget about everything else and watch the game.

Bit at the last minute and chances are youll get what your after. I can honestly say, while useing Ebay, i have only lost 2 items out of hundreds I wanted waiting till the last minute to bid.

Blew it.

Had not remembered that when you click bid it asks you to confirm and that put me over the time.

Live and learn.  Would have probably had it.  I was willing to go about $30 over the winning bid as I wouldn't have had to pay shipping, I could have just drove over and picked it up.

Thanks for help though.  There's plenty more of these guitars out there.

Exactly! This is called sharpshooting. You DO NOT bid on the item, this will only drive up the price and alert other bidders that there is another contender.

I do not bid more than once.  I bid only once in the last 15 seconds.  Determine what you are willing to pay ahead of time.

Put it in your watched items list, note the time it will end. With a half hour to spare, log in with a cup of coffee and get ready to enjoy the fun. The faster your internet connection, the better.

DO NOT bid until the last 5 minutes. Be prepared to bid several times in a row as the last bidder may have set a higher bid than what shows. If others are sharpshooting (likely if it is a hot item) get ready to volley back with your bid, but know what you max bid is, lest you pay more than you intended.

Know when to let go.

This is most important.  Set your own price.  What am I willing to pay for that item?  You do NOT have to beat the other bidders.  If you lose this one for the price you are willing to pay, there will be another just like it next week.  I got a GREAT 6 CD carosel type changer for under $10, plus shipping.  But if you get caught up in a bidding war trying to beat the other bidder, you will just pay too much.  You are working against your own best interest.  Like a gambler trying to win back all the money he has lost on that one big bet.

I open the page in two windows.  One have have signed in, clicked the Bid button, entered my bid amount.  The other I refresh about once a minute during the last 10 minutes, and when it gets down to 2 minutes, I just keep refreshing, watching the price.  If it goes over what I am willing to pay, I quit right there.  If not, with 10 seconds to go, I bid.

I do pretty well, too.