Successful sniping requires large amounts of patience and split-second timingbut will reward you with a higher number of winning bids. Just follow these steps:
1. | Identify the item you want to buyand then don’t bid! Resist the temptation to place a bid when you first notice an item. Make a note of the auction (and its closing time), or even put the item on your watch list; but don’t let anyone else know your intentions. |
2. | Five minutes before the close of the auction, make sure you’re logged on to the Internet, and access the auction in question. |
3. | Open a second browser window to the auction in question. |
4. | Display the Windows clock on your desktop, and configure it to display both minutes and seconds. (Or just grab a watch with a second hand or a stopwatch.) |
5. | In your first browser window, enter your maximum bid and click the Submit button to display the confirmation screen. Don’t confirm the bid yet! Wait for the confirmation screen. |
6. | In your second browser window, click the Refresh or Reload button to update the official auction time. Keep doing this until the time remaining until close is 60 seconds. |
7. | |
8. | When exactly 10 seconds are left in the auction, click the Confirm Bid button in your first browser window to send your bid. |
9. | Wait 10 seconds, and then click the Refresh or Reload button in your second browser window. The auction should now be closed, and (if your sniping was successful) you should be listed as the winning bidder. |
Why bid 10 seconds before close? It takes about this long to transmit the bid from your computer to the online auction site and for the bid to be registered. If you bid any earlier than this, you leave time for the auction to send an outbid notice to the previous high bidderand you don’t want that person to know that until it’s too late to do anything about it.