Ralph; I don't disagree totally with what you've said..., but in the real world, auctions don't happen that way. Most bidders (including myself) want to buy the chip at the lowest price possible. If they have to go another $10 or $20 or $50 after the second hand goes past the deadline, they don't have the opportunity to do so.

Under your scenario, everybody should bid the highest amount they are willing to pay as soon as the lot is offered on ebay and just sit back and let the other bidders have at it with a week to go? I don't think so. Trying to out-guess what another bidder has submitted with 2 seconds to go results in loss revenue for the seller from other bidders who would have been prepared to go higher... and many times distorts the "true value" of items offered for sale on ebay.

How many times have we heard that "an item is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it"? Well I'm sure that you will agree that on many occassions there are ebay buyers who were willing to pay more..., but the clock ran out before they were able to think about it and raise the ante.