its always annoying when you are looking forward to winning an item you've always wanted on eBay and someone out of the blue comes and outbids you. so this is my lesson I've learned.
never and I say never bid on an item before the last hour. Its always better the last 30 minutes too.
Step2
place your first bid when there's 30 minutes left. and see how it goes never over bid on an item. just put price range in your head when it gets to that price STOP go look for similar items.
Step3
But sometimes you know you are not going to be there at that last hour. what you need to do is place your max bid at the time you can do so then you and your luck. A lot of buyers give up fast when they see they are always outbid.