We here at the staff are only human. Being as such, we have fallen victim to one of the most addictive forms of human entertainment - ebay. After observing the ebay society for some time, we have noticed several patterns developing among the ebay society. Basically, bidders can be broken into seven different groups, each employing a different strategy to win their auction. It is no coincidence that there are seven deadly sins. Each method can easily be associated with one of these sins. The various techniques are outlined below.

Traditional
The traditional way that an auction works is that you make an initial bid (placed at any time during the auction). This initial bid is the amount you are willing to pay. This is a very unsuccessful method. First, someone else may have a higher bid in place. Second, someone could easily outbid you after you place your bid. Finally, this method often results in ugly bidding wars driving the price of the item far beyond its worth. Most of the bidders that employ the traditional technique are new to ebay and have not yet learned of the other 6 types of bidders. The sin that traditionalists are guilty of is pride. They take pride in their bid, often blindly believing that it will win them their prized and cherished item.

Foot in the Door
This technique is usually used as a setup for Sniping. However, one could luck up and get the item for a very small price. Foot in the Door involves bidding the absolute minimum on an item as soon as you see it. This way, even if you are outbid, you still at least have your foot in the door, thus reminding you that there is something worth buying. The best sin to describe this technique is lust.

Walling
Walling seems to be a very popular method of bidding. To wall, one places a huge bid on an item the first time he sees it (regardless of how much time is left). That way, if anyone else wants to buy it, they first have to overcome a wall. Sometimes this method works, but it could cost you. The sin of walling? Sloth! Walling is for the lazy bidder, no doubt.

Torpedoing
The method of torpedo bidding is often done not in hopes of actually winning the item, just inflating the price so much that the high bidder has to pay more money than he probably wants to. The high bidder is usually a Wall. This is usually done by a bored ebayer. Torpedoing is often envoked by the sin of envy.

Overshooting
This is the result of too much torpedoing. Everyone is having fun until you make the mistake of bidding too much and actually end up as the high bidder on an item that you don't really want. Overshooting brings on the sin of anger.

Sniping
Sniping is hands down THE best technique for winning an auction. This involves watching an item over a long period of time by keeping it on your watch list (you may even want to place the minimum bid to get your Foot in the Door). As you stalk the auction, note who is bidding, what they have won, and if they are actually snipers as well. The key to sniping is patience. You must wait until the closing minutes (or even seconds) of an auction before you make your move. Then bid so quickly that no one else will even have time to get their bid in. Sniping is embodied in the sin of greed. A greedy person has learned that sniping is the best way to get their item.

Blanketing
Blanketing is a subtype of Sniping. It can be very effective as well. It actually combines the timing of Sniping with the high bidding of Walling. The concept is simple: wait until toward the end of the auction and then bid an obscene amount of dollars. There is no way that the former high bidder can recover from this blow. Even if he does have time to riposte, he will not think of bidding such a lude amount. The sin of blanketing is gluttony. It takes Sniping one step further. By employing the Blanketing technique, you prove that there is nothing that will stop you from getting what you want. Shame on you.

So, those are the several varied ways to spend your time on ebay. We suggest you check out the following auctions:

Baglady Fairy Costume
Ancient Fairy
Not Bad...Maybe an 18 or 19
Get the Standard for Cheap!
Just for Fun

staff out...

If you must commit the sin of sniping, do it the right way! Download a free trial of an awesome auction sniping software tool at

Previous News  |  The Ekaj Archives  |  Back to Main  |  Next News

Questions? Comments? Sugestions?  E-mail the staff.