southpawboston put it right on the mark in regards to what I also do and agree with:

Not always ... but often I declare my interest at the earliest — as either the first or second bidder. I believe that it can sometimes legitimize me in regards to the seller. This may seem like a pile of BS, but my experience is that sellers have been very receptive, friendly and appreciative my interest — even when must have been yielding a very marginal if anything profit when I won. They have cooperated in a number of ways — such as shipping to Japan when their page has announced a non-international sale. I declare my interest from the start. They see my record as a buyer. I send a PM saying that I will cover any extra shipping. It is all about fair is fair. And when it isn't ... well of course I dump my interest.

And DUH — I bid what I consider what the item is worth! I do not escalate a bid by humping the price early. Early bidders don't as a general rule. But I do often declare interest. And if I lose — c'est la vie.

Sure ... I'll snipe. And someday I want an analog stop-watch. I know that I have won stuff cuz I've been close to the last second — and timing it on the second-sweep in my ancient Bulova 'Oceanographer' has seen me through. And I keenly suspect that some bidders have won over me because they really did have a stop watch — and perhaps a faster connection to the auction site.

Some people scream and rant over last-second-bidding ... er ... sniping. Hogwash! IMO, it is the stand-in for the tension and cadence of a stand-up and gavelled, live auction. Whining does not belong in auction houses. The whole affair is a punch-up.

I also admit to biting down on "Buy Now" options when I really feel the price is fair, and I am predicting that idiots could very well bid the deal up to stupid heights. Human nature is often about senseless, pyscho-warfare wherein the market is not of primary concern. Auctions are frequently won by morons with more money that brains. This must go back as far as the paleolithic.