Sniper Method
This is the one I've been referring to. I don't have an exact definition, but on neopets auctions, a sniper is one who bids way over the minimum bid, sometimes more than 2k over the minimum (since they feel someone will bid at least 2k over the minimum bid as well). Essentially, every method that you bid over the Minimum to win at the last second is using the Sniper Method. This explains the general use, for general sniping, rather than a structured method, such as the Double the Minimum Increment Method, or the Early 2k, second 2k Method.
This is the ONLY method to use to win those big auctions, like tens of thousands of points in profit, but I'll get more into that in the next one, the Sniper City, 4/4, 5/5 rule.
item A, value 32,000, increment 500, 8 seconds left
bidderR 17,000np
bidderB 16,500np
bidderM 15,000np
bidderE 14,500np
People are bidding slowly, not too much because they don't want to cut that much into their profit margins. But you do see a couple people bidding it up.
item A, value 32,000, increment 500, 5 seconds left
bidderZ 20,000np
bidderE 18,000np
bidderR 17,000np
bidderB 16,500np
bidderM 15,000np
bidderE 14,500np
Now you have to decide what to bid, at 1.5-2 seconds. If you bid earlier, it will probably be too low. If you bid later, you bid may not process in time. You could do the Newbie bid and lose. You could try any of the other methods, but the only one that's probably going to work here is the sniper method. You just know someone is going 2,000 over the bid you saw at 5 seconds, because it's that profitable, and you just saw others are bidding too.
So you know someone is going to bid 22,000, so what do you bid? You could try and play it safe, by bidding 22,500 to be safe, and not go over the 2,000 over the minimum rule. You might win if it's slow, but if you see a lot of people bidding, you probably won't.
That's cause the dozen or so other snipers anticipate this, so someone is probably going to bid like 23,000. For me, if I saw this, I would probably bid 24,555. I'm anticipating a 2,000 bid, so that goes to 22,000. Plus someone else's 2,000 bid, so mines would be just enough to cover.
Why did I go 24,555? Such a weird number? Well, I typed the 2 - 4 easily enough, but have to type the numbers after. I don't want to go 0 - 0 - 0 . . . ideally I might go 5 - 0 - 1, taking into account seng44's 001 Block Method in case someone goes 25,000. However, the numbers 5 - 0 - 1 are too far apart, and you only have split seconds to do this. So typing 5 -5 -5 is faster. That's pretty much why.
Am I going to show a final result for this one? Nope. These are too hard to predict. Any time you NEED to do a Sniper Method to win, cause there are that many people bidding, and bidding it up, you have no idea what the final result is going to be. Some may go conservative and just bid 2,000 over, some may go nuts and go 4,000 or even 6,000 over. You just have to use your best judgment and hope for the best.
Anything you do where you bid a lot over is sniping though. You could snipe on something worth 800np. Say the last bid is 700, with increment 1. You could snipe 705np, or 750np. If it's worth 4,500np, and the last bid is 3,400 at 5 seconds, you could snipe 3,801, or 3,905, or 4,144. It's all a balancing act, making the most money verses odds of winning with your bid. The higher you go, the less you make, but the more likely you are to win.
Pros:
This is the only method to do for those big profit auctions.
Cons:
Since it has a lot to do with anticipating other people's bids, it's open to a
lot of speculation, which is very inaccurate.