My collegues, who are always changing in this line of work, are always amazed at the things I buy on eBay. They'll spend $1500 on a laptop only to find out I bought a better model, still wrapped in the original box, for $700 less a week later. They've tried buying more things on eBay, but they always seem to get outbid at the last minute by some jerk.

So what's my secret? I am that jerk. I've joined a website that I can tell what auctions I want to bid on, and how much I'm willing to pay. They will make my bid for me, in the last seconds, giving other bidders no chance to counter with a larger bid.
The site can be found here:
http://www.bidnapper.com
There are many benefits to this method. First of all, I only have to see an auction once and enter the information into the website. My schedule can be very busy, so I don't have time to sit around sniping eBay auctions on my own.

Second, I avoid bidding wars. When you enter a high bid long before the auction is over it gives your competitors a chance to counter. They will tend to "inch" their bids higher, feeling out where your high bid is. This pushes the amount you will end up paying higher. That's bad. With my method, they'll think they've got an auction won, and then at the last minute I enter the higher bid and the win. They never even know I exist until it's too late. This is important, because eBay pros will often research the competition on high value items. They'll see what other things you've won, to see how deep your pockets are. This could influence how they decide to bid. I don't want them to know that information.

The bidnapper site offers a free 15 day trial, which is a good way to find out if their service will pay off for you. If you buy things on eBay like me, it'll pay off in less than a week - or sometimes even in a day, I'm a bit of an eBay junky.