So you want to save some money? You've heard of eBay but there
is all that bidding stuff and you haven't got the time, experience
or certainty that it's going to work well for you. Here's how you
can get that eBay auction stuff at the best price even if the
auction closes at a ungodly hour when you want to be doing
something else.
Of course eBay does bring with it some issues, an important and
the reason for creating this article is the danger in overbidding
on items. This is a big problem with eBay, the fact it is an
auction site, often brings with it the excitement of a competition
to win the item you are bidding on, and as many will know, this can
often lead to you paying more than you intended for an item.
There is a solution to this issue, and it comes in the form of
what are called "Sniping" tools, these sites, which work in a
similar way to advance bidding at auction houses, which is the act
of placing a maximum bid on an item before the auction has
happened, this is often a good way to limit your spending, as it
takes you away from the auction room, where even just the
atmosphere can make the most careful and money conscious person,
transform into some bid crazy beast.
"Sniping" tool sites have been around for a while. These sites
have many advantages, as mentioned earlier one is that you don't
end up paying more than you intended, secondly by using a sniping
tool, your computer doesn't even need to be on when the auction is
taking place, as the sniping tool will place the bid for you, and
lastly by using these tools, you are often guaranteed a win, as the
sites can enter bids as quick as in the last second of the auction.
So as you can see there are many reasons why you should use a snipe
tool site when looking for items on eBay. Here is a list of just a
few of the better known sniping sites:
Auctionstealer.com
Auctionstealer.co.uk
Auctionsniper.com
Goofbay.com
These are but a few of the many eBay snipe sites. But for this
demonstration I will use the first site auctionstealer.com which is
by far the most widely used, and boasts a 97% success rate with its
free registration service, which allows you to bid on three items
in a week. This site, is my personal choice. I prefer auction
stealer, as I find I do not usually need to snipe more than three
items a week, and in my mind it has always been very reliable.
Auction stealer, does also offer a priority account, which costs
£5.58 or $8.99 per month for a subscription, and this allows you to
bid on many items, and decreases the time before the auction closes
when it will bid on your item. The free service aims to bid in the
last 20-10 seconds of the auction, whereas the subscription aims to
bid in the last 7-3 seconds. This can sometimes mean the difference
between winning an item, and not. Auction Stealer's Subscription
service claims a 99.9% success rate on all items.
For this demonstration I will show you how to set up and use the
Auction Stealer free service.
First go to the website Auctionstealer.co.uk
You will see something like this:

Click on the 'sign up' button seen on the left of the site see
below:

On the Sign up page, you will see four steps, the first step, is
your personal information, which the site needs to create your
account, step two is creating your password for the site, remember
to create a memorable password, as this will be used to log you
into the site, along with your email address.

Step three and four, are a bit different, and concern your
eBay account. If you do not own an eBay account, then click the
eBay image in step three, and this will redirect you to eBay
registration which will open in a new tab:

So after registering an eBay account, you should now be ready to
link the eBay account to your auction stealer one. If you already
had an eBay account, than you can skip step 3 completely. Now we
move on to step 4 which is the physical link to your eBay account,
simple enter your eBay account details in each box, and click 'sign
up', after clicking, you will come to the page shown below:

Some users may be concerned about the security of giving
an Internet site, important log in information, however the
important thing about this, is that this site uses HTTPS which is a
spy proof way of accessing web sites and as long as your Pay pal
password is different from your eBay password, then there is no way
for actual money to be transferred, as the snipe site attempts to
win the item, but it is up to you to physically go through the
payment process.
The site will ask for your 'conformation code', which will be
sent to the email address, which you used to register for the
Auction Stealer site, so open that email and select and copy
(ctrl+c) the code, or write down that code, and enter it on the
auction stealer site, and again click on the 'activate' button.
This will then take you to your current auctions page:

from here you can see the total points you are able to use in a
week, and the total you have already used. You have a button 'view
past auctions'. An 'add new item' button, and below these buttons,
you have the 'add new item' box. This box is where you will enter
the information from eBay concerning your item.
There is an option from the drop down box, to change the auction
site, to switch to other eBay sites from other countries. You don't
normally need to touch this. Below that is a box to enter the
auction number, now this number is a little hard to find, but if
you look at the screen shot below:

The item number is the same as the auction number, and is
found directly below the description and postage and payments tabs
seen in the picture, and once you find that simply copy and paste
that into the auction number box, and press 'verify item'.
This will take you to the item information page:

As you can see, Auction stealer, has found all the
information about the product you wish to bid on, make sure all the
information is correct. You will see a space for your maximum bid,
in this box, you can enter your maximum bid on the item, which is
the most you are willing to spend, this doesn't mean always this is
the price you pay, it can be less, as an example seen below this
book, starts bidding at 99p, if no one else bids on this item, then
I would win the item for the lowest bid, which would be 99p,
however if someone else bid on the item once, then the next bid
would increase, and so forth, until it reaches your maximum bid,
and if the item passes that bid, you will not win the item.
One key feature of this site, which I find very useful, is its
warning system, say for example if you put your maximum bid at £5,
and before the item ends, the price has already increased beyond
the £5 mark, you will receive an email from Auction Stealer, under
the name of asnsystem@auctionstealer.com, and they will tell you
that, you have been pre-out bid, and they will ask you if you wish
to extend your max bid, which you can do on their website. I find
this a very useful tool, as it means you are always aware of the
activity on your auction items, and can adjust the bidding easily,
or merely let it continue, and you will not win the item.
On the item info page, there is also a box for quantity to
purchase, this only applies to auctions, which are selling
multiples, and gives you the option to buy more than one, but for
now we will leave that at 1.
So you click Save item, and it will take you back to your member
page, but a new box will appear in the centre, which shows the
items you have waiting to be sniped, from here you can monitor
their bidding activity, the time left, extend your maximum bids, or
cancel the items, by selecting the tick box, and pressing cancel
selected (highlighted on image); if you cancel an item, your weekly
points will return to the number before you placed the snipe. Below
is a screen shot of this page, with a book which we have placed a
snipe on:

In summary Auction Stealer is a useful site, which allows you to
easily and confidently place a maximum price on an eBay auction. It
gives you 3 free eBay auctions per week for free
A key feature is Auction Stealer's clever use of email linking,
which both warns you if you have been outbid before the site has
had the chance to snipe the item. They will also email you directly
after the auction has ended on your item, telling you the outcome,
either you have won the item, or you were not successful. This tool
is a good way to still use eBay, but limit yourself to the amount
you wish to spend, and also allows you to be away from the auction
as it takes place.
I hope this guide to the art of Sniping, and the Auction Stealer
website has helped firstly explain the concept, and secondly helped
you get on your way to cheaper and more successful eBay purchasing.