>>>How do you determine the worth of what you are bidding on?

I can only tell you how I do it:

1) I know the book value of the chip and exactly what it would cost to buy the chip directly from a dealer.

2) I check all of the "buy it now" and "ebay store" prices for the chip to see what it would cost to buy it outside of the auction.

3) If it is a high dollar chip, I will place low bids on several of them to watch and see what the final auction price is (in some instances, I've actually gotten the chip for the very low bid).

4) If (for example) I can buy a chip from a dealer for $10 and my max price consistently gets outbid or sniped at auction, now I can simply buy it from the dealer knowing his/her price is a bargain.

With the above information, you can place an intelligent and informed bid and not make the mistakes of others. You MUST NOT be concerned about winning the auction and MUST NOT care if someone snipes your max bid. Simply move on...

Dealers can be successful at auction because they simply place bids and move on. Collectors can get all emotionally tied up in the auction and make mistakes.

Patience is the key.... Enjoy!