It's quite common in the US. Perhaps different with ebay.uk

i know, im fairly new to ebay...thats the trick i learned, just watch an item till the last minute myself and bid.

I'm in the US and I've never encountered that problem either. Besides, don't the US & UK use the same site? I Know I always see stuff listed for GBP instead of dollars.

Well, there's that old argument- I haven't seen it so it doesn't exist..

I didn't say it didn't exist, I'm saying I've never encountered it so it's probably not as widespread as you paranoid folks seem to think. ;) I have 350+ feedbacks and probably 500+ transactions over the course of 4-5 years.

I'm not paranoid- I use them. I think you may not know it when you see it.

If I've seen it, they're not that unbeatable then because like I said I usually win the auctions I go for unless the price goes to high & I stop bidding. (Or if I'm not online when the auction ends. That is almost a SURE way to lose an item.)

Do the google search. See for yourself.

Arguing isn't going to make it go away.

We're not saying it doesn't exist, just that it seems to be either not that common or isn't that effective.

Also, the US and UK use different sites, like Google. The two sometimes mix. Say, if an English seller thought there would be more interest in the US, he would put his item up but have the money in Pounds Sterling just for his ease.

Who's arguing? I'm not saying they don't exist or that you don't use one.
I'm just stating my personal experience which leads me to believe, like ferret said, they may not be all that effective or commonplace.