Prototype Trimline

[tubaman]

Last second snipping after all is the best approach if you really want an item.
It's also the best approach to avoid bidding more than you actually wanted.
I have done it successfully but in a MUCH lower price range 
There is not much use in bidding fights days before the auction ends.
...

Couldn't agree more. This is what I do for every eBay auction I bid for. I decide what I'm prepared to pay and bid that amount in the closing seconds, either manually if I'm available or with an sniping tool. It also stops me getting carried away and continuing to bid something up if I'm not winning, which has been known to happen in the past.

[loblolly986]

There's an old but good little website about why "sniping" is the way to bid (and which refutes the arguments you might sometimes see against it) here.

Sometimes I'll place an initial early bid for the starting price if I decide that leaving the Buy-It-Now or Best Offer option on the listing is more of a risk than the additional attention a bid might draw, and occasionally I've just placed a maximum bid a little ahead of an auction end if I'm not *that* serious about wanting to win the item, but otherwise it's always last-moment bidding for me.

Years ago I used to manually snipe (and more than once missed out on an item because I missed tuning-in when the auction was ending), but for quite some time now I always let Gixen do it for me. I've been using it since the days when you had to log-in using your eBay username and password; Mario was eventually granted access to the eBay API, so it now instead uses the official eBay means for linking with your account and bidding on your behalf as a third-party service. The front-end web interface was recently reworked to be more "modern" in its layout and style, but unlike so many website "improvements" these days, it remains fast and free of bloat and the legacy interface is even still available. I'm not affiliated with it, but Mario is one of the (all too uncommon) truly good people in web development and his little operation deserves recommendation.

[G-Man]

This just ended on eBay. Very nice looking, very rare phone. Last second snipe jumped it up a grand!
Since JKL loves green phones & prototypes I am guessing it was him.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/165966227052

Good guess Harry!

I spoke with John yesterday and he was very pleased to add it into the prototypes section of his fabulous JKL Museum.

[HarrySmith]

It figures, We now know what his eBay bid code is. I am sure we would see it a lot as the last second snipe to win quite a few desirable phones. I am sure it was a very high bid as he would not want to loose it. As already stated at least it will be in a place where it can be appreciated by people without deep pockets at the museum instead of disappearing forever into someone's private collection.