Newbie Method
This one is the easiest to explain. Basically, you bid the minimum increment in the last few seconds.
item X, value 1000, increment 50, 15 seconds left
bidderN 800np
bidderO 750np
bidderC 650np
bidderA 300np
Just cause it's the newbie method, doesn't mean experienced players don't use it. I use it quite often. It could be for a number of reasons, like I wouldn't pay anymore. Say item X is valued at 1000, and the last bid price is at 800, with a 50 increment. I might just bid 850 with a few seconds left, or even with like 15 seconds left. The reason is that I don't want to waste time tracking it down waiting till the last second. It's not worth it.
I could wait and wait and maybe someone would've bid 850, and at the very last second I could go 900 too. Essentially though, the newbie method is just bidding the minimum over, one time, and that's it.
item X, value 1000, increment 50
This auction is closed, you cannot place any more bids!
Me 850np
bidderN 800np
bidderO 750np
bidderC 650np
bidderA 300np
I might win, I might not, either way, this is what the Newbie Method is. I may have bid with 3 seconds left, or 30 seconds, but yeah, this is it.
Someone may have done it before you, especially if you wait too long, and you'll get this:
The current asking price for this item (item X) is 850 Neopoints, and the minimum increment is 50 Neopoints. This means you have to bid at least 900!
In which case you have bid too late, someone already did a Newbie Method. You can go back, if there's time and up your bid, or just say screw it and alt-F4 the window (close the window).
Pros:
Don't have to think much, can bid at like 15 seconds if you don't really care to
much about winning. You might want to win, but don't want to devote a lot
of effort to it.
Cons:
A sniper could easily beat you, or someone doing a more complex method (Double
the Minimum Increment Method). Basically, you stand a good chance of
losing if you do the Newbie Method, but it is a method.
If you do the Newbie Method, it's really tricky to win. You have to bid fast enough to where someone else doesn't do it before you, making your bid useless. It'll give you an error, saying you have to bid higher, and at that point you can't win cause it'll take too long to go back and type in a new number. If you bid too early, like at 5 or 6 seconds to beat everyone else, someone else could be refreshing and see your Newbie Bid and bid at 2 or 3 seconds, making a Newbie Bid over your Newbie Bid. Tricky yeah?