The secret to losing bids at the last minute is that the other party is using "sniping" software. He can set the price he wants to pay and the software will keep bidding maybe 10 secs from the close of the auction not giving anyone else time to prepare and get in a bid. The theory is that you do not push the price up during the auction but only come in at the end. The only problem is that if you get two bidders using snipe software, the price can get pushed through the roof at the auction close. I recently saw a Volvo instrument panel go up 30% in the last 10 secs of an auction with two snipe bidders going against each other. This software is quite cheap and it will put bids in for you even if you are not home in front of your computer.
John Scales (850R 1996)