Bidding strategically on eBay

A while ago I discovered that eBay makes the last three months of sold as well as completed listings available (just click on the little "Advanced" tab on the right of the search button). Learning about this feature hugely changed how I shopped on eBay. While you can do a search of the current listings to try to get a sense of your options, you can get a much more accurate picture of what the market is doing by looking at what people have historically paid. Here are a few ways I use the historical data to decide how to bid:

• If I see a "buy it now" item that is around the lowest price the auctions typically end at, I can simply use that option.
• I can figure out what the market rate is for the item and set my proxy bidding maximum at that amount. If I get outbid, I just try the same price on a similar auction.
• I can figure out how often the item is available via eBay and if I should try to find a good deal there versus looking elsewhere.

If you aren't familiar with this feature, I highly recommend giving it a try. Also, if you have any other ideas for how to use this tool, feel free to share them in the comments.