Hi Jim,

I've done that, too, and though I find the seller
cooperating most of the time, I do not feel walking
away will satisfy me in not knowing (or knowing too
late) that the reserve may have been either far
below or at the level I was willing to pay for the
item. All we see at the end of any auction on-line;
reserve or no reserve, is the last recorded
increment above the previous bidder who in fact may
have bid well above but also well below what you may
have felt comfortable with meeting the reserve and
being the winning high-bidder. I learned this by
losing and finding out there is no harm to oneself
by taking a shot and bidding what one feels the item
is worth and willing to pay. Otherwise, a simple
e-mail or phone call by someone else may trade the
item never to be
seen again. One of the very few things I agree with
in eBay's thinking is their instruction to bid early
and bid as high as you are willing to pay. How many
times have we all learned too late and said: "####,
I would have paid that for the chip"? <-- <g>

JB