Howdy, all.  Chris Kalstone's comments regarding eBay auctions prompted
me to write, as I have been recently studying to become an eBay addict.

In my first two eBay auctions, my early, maximum bids were beat by
other bidders within the closing *minutes* of the auctions.  I would
have increased my bids, had I known there were other bidders, but the
auctions closed before eBay had time to inform me that I had been
overbid!

I call it "stealth" bidding.  The students I work with tell me that's
how to "work" eBay auctions if you see something you *really* want:

1.  Don't bid on the item until the last few minutes of the auction.
Bidding on an item early in the auction increases interest and invites
stealth bidders.

2.  During the last few minutes before an auction closes, have two
browser windows open simultaneously: A bidding window, and a window
showing the item and it's current high bid.  Repeatedly reload your
item window to see the current high bid.  If you are overbid,
immediately use your bid window to place a new bid.

Have fun.

Pete Woodworth
(Stealth bidding on the black velvet Elvis and Jesus paintings!)