On 12 Jan, 16:11, Mike Barnes wrote:

That was the point. The OP described a situation where bidders were
"fighting it out".

I am the OP.

I used quotes around "fighting it out" as (had you bothered to look -
the fact that you couldn't be arsed frankly rather undermines all your
"points") the "fighting it out" is clearly (to me anyway) false shill
bidding.
*There is no "fight" in this instance*.
The shill bidder(s) are pushing up the price of the early bidder -
hence early bidding of a top price is for mugs/cretins.

That's what I was responding to. If you only place
one bid, there is no "fighting it out". *Regardless* of when you place
that bid.

the timing of when that is placed makes you a halfwit
mug or a potential winner...

That's simplistic and irrelevant.

It's true and entirely relevant to me.

Just to recap, your recommended strategy for ebay is:- bid once early
and if you end up paying top price due to fraudulent bidding, that's
OK with you? OK fine if that cranks your handle so be it.

You bid early & get shilled early = you are a mug.
You snipe late, if you win, you possibly pay less than you were
(technically) prepared to pay = winner, or you pay your max you know
the market = winner. If you lose no worries, nothings lost.

Sniping "last thing" removes the potential for your bid being shilled
to it's max - that's the whole entire point of all of this.

Simples

Jim K