Quote Originally Posted by ats200 View Post
I still think that isn't true. If you enter in the most you are willing to pay.. isn't that the maximum amount? I don't mean that I have to enter in every single dollar to my name. We may be on different trains of thought here but I simply meant, if the most I'm willing to pay is (for example) $100. Why not try to negotiate for less?

Edit: Sorry for the "hard headedness." I completely understand what everyone is saying and on some level I do agree but I think it comes down to the old saying "agree to disagree."
I believe we're discussing two different concepts here. I think there is a "maximum" that is the most that an individual is willing to pay at any time as in "I would NEVER pay more than $20 for that." Then there is the moment by moment "maximum" that is constantly changing. Say I'm looking for a particular razor like a Clauss. This week money is tight and the pic isn't great so my maximum is only about $12. I get outbid. No big deal. Next week I work some overtime and I spy a razor on Ebay like the one I saw last week only this one has much better pictures and now I've got extra money. I don't mind bidding $25 this time and I win. The razors may be identical but my maximum still changed from one week to the next. Even if I won the lottery I don't think I would ever have a set maximum that I would be willing to bid every single time. Just because I could afford to spend to $5000 for a $20 razor doesn't mean that I would.

Shilling isn't a way to bid to win. Shilling is bidding to drive prices up. Sometimes it's done by a friend of the seller and sometimes it's done by a different account belonging to the same seller. A shiller isn't going to bid a ridiculous amount like $5000 hoping to win. The shiller actually wants to lose. The only purpose is forcing the legitimate bidders to spend more than necessary. Sniping is a way of limiting how much shilling is done before the end of the auction. That keeps prices down for the buyers. Sniping is generally frowned upon by Ebay but shilling is a big no-no.

Lori