Sorry you didn't get it CF, but here's hoping the other guy backs out! I've had that happen several times, and as the second-highest bidder they came to me.
Jill also gave excellent bidding advice! I do exactly the same thing she does, only I wait until 15 seconds before close of auction to submit my bid, lol. Of course, I have very high speed internet. I've only ever not gotten what I wanted two times out of about 400, and that was because they paid way more than I was willing to pay for the items. I've gotten every other one this way and usually at much lower than my maximum!
I don't understand the people who bid so early, because it just drives the price up for everyone. I also never let eBay do the "automatic bid" thing, because I tried that in the beginning, and it would have me bidding against myself, raising the price considerably when no one else was even bidding!
Also, the advice about bidding uneven numbers is excellent, and you stand a better chance. Just a couple of weeks ago, I won an auction by....1 cent! I bet the second-highest bidder was really ticked, but they bid an even dollar amount and I bid one cent over, so I got it. But the one-cent over is not a good one to rely on either, like Jill said bid some oddball number. I just happened to luck out on that one.
You just have to know what you're willing to spend maximum and then physically be there, even if it's 3 a.m. (thank goodness not many auctions end that time of night, lol) and do it just like we do, it's almost flawless.
