Ditto on what's already been said. The "Sniper" tactic (whether Automatic or Self-Timed with a manual clock/wristwatch) by bidding at the very last 2-4 seconds and with a very high ceiling cap (proxy) set is truly the best and sure way to win. Otherwise, you're just jacking-up the price for everyone else and the item doesn't become a good deal anymore. This sniper tactic totally smash'es all other bids at the very last second and you become the winner, and most importantly doesn't allow another competing bidder to react in time with a counter-bid before time runs out. As previously mentioned, the most important thing is to "be willing to pay" the possible very high price you set as a ceiling cap (yes, the bidding may go that high in the final heat of the moment), and really watch-out for the High Price Shipping Charge's scam (very common nowaday's as a sales trick on eBay by Seller's trying to swindle more money for an item).

Incidentally, I won my Proton VX on eBay with 2-seconds remaining in the auction and I had an extremely high ceiling cap bid proxy set using the Sniper tactic. The actual ending selling price of my VX never came close to reaching my max ceiling cap, but my auto-bid proxy totally smashed-out all other eBay bid's as auction time expired (what I like to refer to as a "Nuclear Warhead").

The other advice I would add is when buying very expensive items of value on eBay like motor vehicles or high-end electronic stereo/TV gear or anything else of major value is to always use www.ESCROW.com as the monetary conduit to make the purchase exchange. Never, never, send a substantial monetary deposit payment directly to a Seller (he'll just cash your advance deposit payment and quickly disappear into the shadows never to be heard from again).

With www.ESCROW.com; you the Buyer, would electronically send your payment to Escrow.com which would "hold" your money and they would notify the Seller that the purchase funds are now "secured". The Seller would then ship the item (without payment) to you the Buyer, and you will have a 3-day inspection period upon the item's arrival to either "accept or reject" the purchase. If you; The Buyer, accept the item and it meets your satisfaction, then Escrow.com electronically dispurses the purchase price (your "secured" funds) to the Seller (transaction completed). The really cool thing is that if you check-out the item upon its arrival during the 3-day inspection period and discover the item is total junk and does not meet your satisfaction, then you The Buyer can "reject" the item via Escrow.com; pay to ship the item back to the Seller, and then Escrow.com will refund your original money back to you, The Buyer. Consequently, there is no way for you The Buyer to ever get ripped-off by a possible shaddy Seller (yes, they are out there). The very worst case scenario would be that you had to pay for shipping both ways (to you & from you) for the item, but at least you wouldn't be stuck with a lemon or piece of junk.

If an on-line Seller ever refuses to cooperate with the established Escrow.com policy, then that's a sure tell-tale sign the item he's selling is total junk and it's a scam to rip you off, and that gives you a legal "out" to back-out of the original eBay auction purchase. Visit www.ESCROW.com for more specific information, as it will give you total Peace-Of-Mind when buying high-value items on-line over the internet on eBay or Craigslist, etc.