sniping blues

[Luke]

I think you're right about it just being a statistical aberration. If you are bummed about losing it, you can always bid more next time.

One method I sometimes use but haven't ever heard mentioned before is to bid a few dollars over your theoretical max for the specific item. You know that you will win some auctions for well under you max, and some for a buck or two over and it will eventually even out. You'll win more auctions, and your average winning bid will be right around your average max bid.

[TanksAndSpartans]

I switched to a sniping service when I finally forgot about one auction too many. It was fun to snipe manually and find out right away how it turned out, but I wouldn't go back - the service is too convenient and reliable. A few times since I switched away from manual, I've watched auctions end on my phone for cards I really wanted, but I mostly just check the next day or a few hours later now.

[nat]

If you do that (try to hit your target expenditures on average) you end up paying more for a card than the card is worth to you. Which is, well, not worth it.