I think it needs to be told that it is not always a good idea to leave it until the last minute to bid on an item.......... please read on.

Just recently there seems to be a few occassions where ebay are updating their programmes, therefore buyers are unable to access their ebay.   What a shame it is for the buyer that they are unable to bid on that special item they want, they keep trying, but the page is unaccessible  ...... and when ebay are up and running again.... the auction has finished, they did not have a chance to bid on that item!   Obviously ebay do need to keep updating their system so I am not being detremental to ebay.  But also, ebay have introduced a security measure on buyers accounts which when they place a bid on an item, ebay re-ask for their ebay name and password, basically if you leave it until the last few seconds to bid and this security box appears, you just won't be quick enough to do it in time before the auction ends.  I KNOW people this has happened to.

Here I will mention the PROXY bid, which a lot of new ebay users are not aware of.  When bidding on an item, if you know how much you are prepared to pay for an item, e.g. £20.00 you place your bid of £20.00 and continue and confirm.  If you are the only person who has placed a bid then the current winning amount will be the sellers starting price e.g. 99p.  If there is someone else bidding but they have placed a bid of £10.00, then YOU will be winning the bid at £10.50 (or whatever ebay have set the increments at).  If no one else bids, YOU will win that item for £10.50.  When placing a proxy bid, ebay will keep bidding on your behalf until your £20.00 maximum has been reached and if the bids keep going up, you will not win the item after £20.00 has been reached and overtaken.  This is a really good system, and you can bid, and forget about the auction.... just like placing a commission bid at a real live auction.

I hope this helps.