if i want to buy something on ebay, can i put in my max bid and it will really only bid the minimum possible to get me the item

[roboass]

sorry yes i know this is the wrong section but im totally sleep deprervived so please forgive me.

basically im trying to get a breast pump on ebay, ive tried a couple of manual pump but i can only get 1oz at a time so it takes 9 20 min pumping sessions to get one feed

anyway, i kep getting out bid at the last min, so what id really love to know is, can i really put in my maximum bid and ebay will only make the bid as low as possible so i can get the item for as chreap as possible ?

i hope this makes sense
example breast pump i want is at 20 quid with 2 hours to go, if i bid say 35 quid will ebay really only bid whats neccesary for me to win the auction?

in otherwords i want to get away with paying the min possible but keep getting outbid at the last moment

please help me get some much needed sleep im begging you all.

sorry about that state of my rambling as you can see im knackred

yes it really does mean that
you bid the highest you are willing to pay and it will bid in increments for you

thanks rhino, just didnt want to bid 35 if i could get away with say 23

But don't put in your max bid too early. Wait until there's maybe only 10 mins or so to go. Or better still be around when the auction closes and sneak in the last bid yourself. Bidding early just drives up the price.

thanks twinkle

roboass, I don't know if you are still around, but there is something on ebay called a 'bid assistant'.

this is really helpful if there is more than one thing you like, but you only want one of them (eg there are 4 breast pumps and you don't mind which one you get).

Basically you use the bid assistant box and put bids on all of them (can be different amounts). Then the bid assistant will place bids for you - the minimum necessary - until you win one of them. Then it will stop and not bid on the others.

Sniper bidding is the way to go. Watch the item and see how the bidding is going. If the price is looking good, wait until the last 30secs, then submit your bid. I've never failed that way! (but make make sure you're logged on so that all you have to do his hit the bid button)

If you get involved in bidding any earlier, particularly with the automatic bidder, then the price becomes inflated.

Just like a real life auction really.