Auctions - why bid early?

I'm fairly busy on ebay and I have learnt, that bidding early makes no sense whatever to the buyer. I helps the seller though, because it mostly, as Rockvirgo says, raises the final price. I've learnt to hold back and wait, even callously and coldly snipe if necessary, if there is something that I really want.

One possible explanation is I think a lot of people like the fun of bidding on a "dream" item, like that Krell monster amp they could never afford. They can fantasize about getting it for a really cheap price. At least until reality kicks in. These are probably some of the same people who buy lottery tickets.

Interesting thought, Kinsekd, you may well be right! Cheers,

Another theory I have about this is that it's kind of like bluffing with poker. If somebody sees something (this is more applicable to Ebay than the 'gon, but anyway) they want, they may be reluctant to bid on it if there's already a bid, 'cause who knows how much that person bid already? Sometimes I bid on something (Ebay) with basically a low bid, but a little higher than the opening bid, so if somebody else comes along and bids, they get the "you've been outbid" message, and think (in my little fantasy world) "wow, this guy must have put down a huge bid, there's no point in going up against him!" Of course, if I'm really obsessed I'll hang out and snipe it anyway, and that's happened to me too. So I don't know if bluffing really works...I just know I buy too much stuff online :)