With a feedback of over 4000 on eBay I have to say, with some experience over the years, early bidding has always cost me as people either get carried away trying to find out how much you have bid, or just increase the bids a few times and give up (out of devilment ?) They are not serious bidders willing to pay a fair sum for an item. I do not use automated bidding. I always place a small bid to show interest as some sellers will pull the auction if no interest is shown. I then bid my maximum in the last 10 seconds to avoid a silly bidding war. I win some, I lose some. I have had some excellent deals and paid much less than the maximum I bid in the last seconds of the auction. You cannot get away from the fact that last seconds bidding is the norm on eBay, it is accepted, and you get a rush out of such when bidding.
If I sell, I set a start price with which I am comfortable to sell. Anything more is a bonus. I never run 99p auctions with no reserve. Those who do may be trying to save listing costs, attract attention to their auction or may well be inexperienced. A seller who lists at 99p is not truly in a position to complain about last seconds bidders. He/she may set the start price and if the item is worth that price, a bidder will buy it. Some sellers hope for bidding wars. Experienced buyers know to avoid such and bid late.
If eBay disliked the last second bidding they could easily have a system that either closed the auction at random in the last 10 minutes, or that extended the auction for 2 minutes after each bid received to allow counter bids. They do not do this because they know many of us enjoy the game of last minute bids and the flurry of activity that occurs in the closing seconds of the auction.
I say again .... the seller sets the start price. I have little time for sellers who whinge that an item sold undervalue when they set the start price too low. On occasions I have won a £100+ item for the maiden 99p starting bid. I have often felt guilty and sent an additional 'top up' payment but I have never received a thank you for such. I no longer worry. I have also had several sellers either refuse to send the item, claim to have posted it and not, or stated that it is lost/damaged so cannot be sent. There will always be the odd issue when using eBay but in my case I have been very grateful that it exists and I have had some great deals over the years.
If bidding against me on something I want, You will not see me bid more than twice. Once at the start and once at the end. To outbid me you will have to bid higher than my unknown last seconds bid, simple as that. I have bid £350 on a thermal camera recently and the nearest bid to me was only £127. There was the real opportunity for a higher bid but no one went for it.
Fraser