The idea behind a "Stake Your Claim" bid:
Let's say that you see something on Ebay that you'd really want to get, but unfortunately the price is already at the maximum limit that you're willing to pay. You could try to set up an Esnipe or something, and try to snag it with 5 seconds left at the minimum bid, OR.... You can put in a minimum bid now, and "Stake Your Claim".
Here is how the theory works. The idea is that other people that will see this auction, will look at the price, and look at the shipping, and realize that there is already an active bidder on it, and if the price is already as high as it really should be, then I think a lot of other Ebayers are just going to think to themselves.. "Well the price is already high on that thing, there is already a guy bidding on it, do I really want to try to outbid that guy, when the price is already pretty high ?" .
Now some may say that it's a mistake to EVER bid any earlier than you have to. Don't be the guy that puts in the first bid, unless that first bid is with 5 seconds left in the auction. Their thinking is that an early bid is going to draw unnecessary attention to the item, and you were better off letting sleeping dogs lie. Why put that bid in there to draw attention ? When some people do advanced searches, they only look for items that already have a bid, and now the auction that you are interested in, is going to be seen by them. Had you just not made any bids until the last possible second, then you don't bring any unwanted attention.
Well, here's my response to that. Sure, when you do a "Stake Your Claim" bid, you are running the risk of having more people notice the auction, than would have otherwise. However, if the auction is already at the maximum amount that you want to spend, why not just put the bid in now, and anybody else that has a similar view of the item is going to look at the total price with shipping and everything, see there is a guy already bidding on it, and some people are just going to say F it. They might be slightly interested in the item, but not with somebody else actively bidding on it.