St Augustine #138 just went for $305 on Ebay. My bid of $300 stood until about the last 5 seconds. I thought I had it. I was really excited - darn it. I've been watching for this, and it only comes about every couple of months it seems. On the bright side, I guess I'm $300 richer than I would have been, but that doesn't really make me feel any better. My wife and I honeymooned there, so its got a certain sentimental value to it I suppose. Hmmmphh!!!

eBay can be tricky... I've had similar experiences to you over time but everything seems to balance out in the end. Sometimes you have things taken from you in the last few seconds and sometimes you're the one taking something from someone in the last few seconds.

Sorry to hear the news though (although, if your wife is anything like mine, I'm sure that she'll be thrilled with how things worked out).

I bought my St. Augustine off eBay and experienced similar times when I was outbid in the last minute or so. There's not much you can do to combat a last second bid by another person.
You can bid high or you have to keep placing bids and immediately refresh your ebay page, and be prepared to type in your next bid in an instant.

I paid $350 for my St. Augustine when the were selling for $75-$100 more than that. I was very pleased to get it at that price.

Bob

Did you notice that someone has St. Augustine for sale right here on the Forums in the Marketplace? Is it the one you are looking for? It doesn't have a price but it might be worth checking out.

Eskilady

Just a note about losing in the final seconds. That doesn't happen by accident. Several individuals at work have bidding software that basically places bids inside the last 1 second. Unless your registered bid is outside the range that someone with the software is willing to go, you really don't much of a chance. Trying to bid manually against the software is an almost impossible task. I'd really like to see ebay go to a format that extends the auction by 1 or 2 minutes if a bid is placed within the last minute. That would at least give all of the bidders a chance to bid to their own individual maximum levels without worrying about getting nipped at the end.

That's very interesting, Gary. I like the idea about extending the bidding time as long as one new bid is coming in every minute or less. No bids within one minute and the auction closes. Ebay makes more money, the seller makes more money, and the winning bidder gets his or her wish. It would certainly provide for some interesting bidding wars for those who are willing to pay a higher price for something they really want.

Bob

I had a same thing happen a few months ago. Only a day after the seller sent me a second chance offer (somthing didnt work out with the first bidder)So I did get the piece on the second chance at my last bid.
I was also told that some people have friends bid on there items to try to bump up the price win or loose. I think that sucks.

If you think that some is really having a friend bid on their items(or just them with another username) report it to safe harbor. I have done this a few times. Not too much comes of it, but at least they are aware. Shill bidding is a huge problem on Ebay. I have basically given up on trying to get things off of their, unless you give up and take the buy it now option...