Features

7 - Know what it's worth

Before you bid, decide the maximum price you're prepared to pay and stick to it. Find out the item's market value by searching on Google. Go to www.google.co.uk and click on the Products link above the Search box. Enter the model name, and its make if it's a common item, then click on Search Products. The results are filtered by relevance by default. Click in the Show Grid View box and select Sort by price: low to high. Also, look on eBay. Run a search for your item, then click on the Completed Listings box on the left of the listings page to see what people have paid for similar items in the past 15 days. You can run a Completed Listings search by clicking on the Advanced Search link to the right of eBay's main search box. Also search for the item on Snapsearch (www.snapsearch.com) to find out how much it's selling for on eBay.

8 - Know your rival bidders

Click on the History link to the right of the photo on the item page. This reveals how many bids have been placed, by whom, when, and how much was bid. Note the time of day each bidder tends to bid and swoop in with your slightly higher bid after you think they've logged off. If one person is placing lots of bids, you may have a fight on your hands and it might be worth letting them pay over the odds and then waiting for a similar item to come up for auction when you face less determined competition.

9 - Find bid-free items<

To find auctions that have received no bids and end within 10 minutes, go to Advanced Search and type in your search term. Scroll to the 'Number of bids - Max' box and type in 0.

10 - Bid in pennies

Place your bids in odd increments. Most people bid in increments of 10p or 50p, so outbid them by just 1p or 2p to avoid pushing up the total too fast.

11 - Wait until the last minute

Don't bid on a newly listed item. This generates interest among rival bidders, triggering a bidding war and driving up the price. Instead, click on the 'Watch this item' link in the blue strip at the top of the item page and wait for eBay to email you when the auction is coming to an end. Bid at the last minute, provided the price hasn't gone above your well-researched maximum bid. Follow the progress of your watched items by clicking on My eBay at the top of any eBay page.

12 - Get the eBay Toolbar

This free 3MB desktop application alerts you when your watched auctions are about to end, so you can swoop in with a last-minute bid without having to keep a constant eye on eBay. You can receive various desktop alerts via the toolbar, including Second Chance Offers for items you didn't win. Sometimes, if the reserve price for an item isn't met, or there is more than one of an item, the seller will let you buy at your maximum (losing) bid. Download the Internet Explorer eBay Toolbar from http://pages.ebay.co.uk/ebay_toolbar or a Firefox version from http://myfriendlyfox.com/ebay.

13 - Bid by text

If you'll be away from your computer when the auction ends, bid at the last minute by text message. To set a text alert for any item, click on the 'Text message' link to the right of the photo on the item page and type in your mobile number. EBay will SMS you when the auction is about to end or when you've been outbid, and you can increase your bid by texting back.