[doug.goodman]

Erick (and Leon) are absolutely correct.

Looking at it from a purely logical perspective :

If you bid your maximum amount early, then future bidders who you have outbid know about it instantly and have a chance to bid again, which costs you money.

Bidding multiple time doesn't make sense for more reasons than I care to go into.

Bidding your highest amount at the last possible second means that the only people who will have time to out bid you are those who either already have or are doing using the same strategy, either way you lost, so get over it.

Let's say that you and another guy both want an item. He bids the minimum early and keeps an eye on the auction. If you bid early, he has time to rebid, and rebid again, and so do you. Eventually somebody wins. Price keeps going up. Seller is very happy.

If you waited until the last possible second and bid your maximum, he has no time to bid again and you win the item for the minimum plus one bid increment.

My method does not guarantee a win, but my method does guarantee that you spend as little money as possible.

Doug