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Ebay does this bidding for you. Anytime you enter an auction, the price you are willing to pay should be independent of how everyone else in the room values the object. If your willingness to pay is a function of the last bid, then you probably should stick to fixed price sales.

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I don't disagree. The best approach is to always put your maximum bid in. But human nature plays a big part in auctions, and I think ebay should note this.

It seems that most people, given 3 hours to think about and consider the regret they would feel if they didn't get what they are bidding on, would usually convince themselves to skip a coffee and add another five dollars to their bid.

you are totally right, but humans are far from rational.

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