The last thing you want to do is to let the seller (and other bidders) know that you're interested. The more "valuable" and popular an item is perceived to be, the higher the price people are willing to pay for it. And as a buyer, of course, you want the price to be as low as possible. So when you see that item you like, do not immediately put a bid on it. Simply put it on your watchlist, so you get back to it later.
Some people swear by automated sniping software, but I'd rather do the job myself. At T minus 15 seconds, put in the highest bid you're prepared to pay. At T minus 3 seconds, click on the Confirm button. Just enough time for the bid to go in, but not enough time for other bidders to increase their bids. There's always a chance that someone else has already put in a higher bid, so if you really really want that item, confirm your highest bid at T minus 10 seconds. In case there's a higher bid, you still have some precious seconds to beat it.
One thing you need to be careful about. When sniping, make sure you're actually logged in. There have been times when I put in my highest bid at T minus 3 seconds, only for eBay to ask for my username and password. By the time I've logged in again, the bidding has closed.
Watch out for items that are listed twice by the same seller. Is it so that he really has two items? In that case, no need to go all in on the first one because you still have a second chance. If it turns out to be a dupe, better make sure you snag the first one. I remember one seller having an item for regular auction, and the same item ending 7 days later with a Buy-It-Now price. It's possible that he really has two E100s lying around, or maybe that's just his strategy. If the regular auction fetches a price higher than the Buy-It-Now price, he can simply cancel the second item. If someone make an offer that is higher than the winning bid, guess which winner will get the goods?
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