It looks like I hit a hot button with my comment about bidding on eBay with no intention of winning the auction. A few others have already explained much of the logic, but let me expand.
The primary reason I started this was that there are often 50-100 items that catch my attention but eBay only let us watch 20, now 30, items. I actually complained to eBay about this artificially low number. Putting in a low (generally the lowest possible) early bid is the easiest way to follow a larger number of pieces. I generally look for items as they are posted and not when the auction is about to expire, as this gives me time to think about the purchase and catch the Buy It Now items before they are bought. So I dont think Im jacking up the prices, which is the last thing I'd want to do as a buyer. Even if I was, the sellers wouldnt mind, only the buyers! As a courtesy to both buyers and sellers, Ill generally try NOT to bid if I suspect that I will hit a reserve and cause the Buy It Now option to disappear for other buyers.
Im also perfectly willing to buy the things on which I place bids, but I know that realistically this wont happen as most of us know their market value. I think in two or so years of buying things on eBay, Ive only won a handful of items that I would have preferred to lose. You can almost always count on someone else to come in as a sniper at the last minute if they think you might be getting a bargain.
Now if theres something I really do want or something thats too expensive and valuable to gamble on coming out the winner, those are the items that go on the Watch List. It seems that the only way to win an auction on eBay is to bid in the last few seconds. I learned this the hard way, as do most of us, losing some very good items to snipers. You could make a good case that sniping keeps the prices down. The auctions that end up in the stratosphere are those where a few select (wealthy) bidders keep one-upping each other for several days.
My policy for trying to win eBay auctions is to enter a bid, as late as I dare, that is just high enough that I wont regret the purchase. If someone bids more, Im relieved not to be the winner. If I do win, it feels like a fair price. I think that I probably end up as second highest bidder on 80% of the auctions I try to win, further down the list on 15% and win no more than 5% of the time. So now you have all my secrets.
I think a better way to purchase bicycle components is to do it from the
people who list them here but Ive been trying for some time to pick up a
selection of items for use on some special projects. Over the next few
weeks Ill be asking for advice for which pieces to use on the black
Ephgrave #1 and green #2 frames that you can see at
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/
Am I using too many words? I have that reputation.
Gary Chottiner aka pedal-professor
Cleveland Hts. OH