I assume you are talking solely about eBay, and I no longer sell there, but I think I know the answer. Bidding early lets bidders "feel out" the degree of interest that there is in an item (assuming at least one other person bids as well). If an item is sitting at a dollar with seconds to go, you are completely blind as to how much to snipe. But if five bidders took it to say, $50 with seconds to go, you now have SOME idea of what it might go for, and you have a better idea on what snipe bid to place.
I would say that bidding early therefore gives you a greater chance of winning that item (because you have more info about its end price) but that doing so may well cost you more than it would have had you not bid early.
Bidding early also makes sense on items you have only a passing interest in. You bid your best bid early on, and most times you are outbid, but every so often that other fellow forgets to snipe, or his snipe program fails, or whatever, and you get a great deal, and the benefit of this method is after you place your bid you never need to think about it again (of course you could simply place your bid as a snipe, but YOUR snipe program might fail, etc),
So I think early bidding makes sense if you have a great desire to own an item, or if you only have a passing desire. But if you are a man of leisure, you should simply always sit by the computer right near when it ends and then place a snipe bid, so you have the element of surprise, and you also saw where the bidding was near the end.
Of course, in my auctions, there is no sniping, but you still should wait for the final five minutes, and bid with five minutes and one second to go.
Bruce
