I've thought about this subject a lot. It seems many bidders wait until the very last minutes to bid on an item. I've heard some explanations for this. I'm still trying to understand how this beats my old fashioned method. I look at the item I wish to buy. I try to study it - research it the best I can. If it is one of many simliar items - any would meet my needs - I study them as well. I establish the limit of my bidding including shipping and handling for the item - granted, my limit may be different for each of the similar items. Each should have my bidding limit. I then bid my maximum on the first of these similar items to end. I either win the auction, at my maximum or less, or I lose it. I avoid the closing frenzie that would tempt me to overbid my limit. I know the excitement I get at the last minute - I think the adrenaline encourages me to bid just a few dollars beyond my limit (this can end up as being quite a few more than a few dollars). I am especially vulnerable to this adrenaline rush late in the evening when I am sleepy and should be in bed. If I don't win the first item, I do the same with the next similar item to end, and so on, and so on ----. I may never win a bid on any of these items, but I did not overspend. If I want the item bad enough, then the next time I may consciously raise my limit. Since no one but myself knows my maximum bid level until the bidding reaches that level, then I don't understand the real advantage in waiting until the last minute or seconds to bid. Perhaps someone can give me an explanation of the advantages for the last minute bidding so I can understand. JML