I like the fact that eBay's auctions end at a specific time. If that weren't the case, couldn't a black hat write a simple script that would endlessly bid up an auction or, worse, a block of auctions? That could be a huge headache for buyers, sellers and the site owner.

On a separate note, does anyone know if it's even possible on eBay to avoid shipping items to overseas customers? There are U.S.-based proxies that allow overseas buyers to get around my "I only ship to the U.S." restriction. I have this restriction in place and yet I see that my items can be bid on in Japan -- which would be okay IF I only had to satisfy the U.S. proxy, not the overseas bidder.