By James Cooley - January 15 2007 tags: ebay

Ireland does quite badly in the mobile handsets stakes and the contracts are on the expensive side. I decided to try eBay for a handset with wifi so the Nokia N80 would be a nice-to-have.

I started using JBidWatcher described as a free Java-based program for eBay auction bidding, sniping and management.

Sniping is a nice feature as you can delay bidding until 30 seconds from the end of the auction which has to give you an edge. It also has a multi-snipe feature which lets you snipe one of a bundle of auctions i.e. it stops bidding on your selected auctions after it has won a single action in the group.

Another nice feature it the ability to show the sellers feedback (and other user configurable columns) as part of a search.

You can also include postage costs in your maximum bid which helps.

I managed to snipe a 2G secure digital card for €15 total so I'm pretty happy with it. Now for that N80.

Here's a screenshot of myEbay with a snipe for £160 where the current is £99 after 2 bids. There are over 2 days remaining and the seller has 100% positive feedback. There's probably a small chance I'll win but I want a bargain.