So I should just stop bidding until the last minute of this auction?

~I'd recommend you hold off until the last minute. BUT, you have to make sure you are in front of a computer at that time...and don't forget about it (I've done it many times) AND your internet connection is good.

How do I know when I become max bidder again? Just enter $100 until I stay as top bidder?
~ Ebay's system is lightening fast so you'll know in a nano second after you enter a bid whether or not YOU are the high bidder. Don't rely on ebay's email notifications, they're delayed.

When I first bid on it I stayed as top bidder for about 5 hours and then got an email that I'd been outbid...
~ Again, DON'T rely on the email notification from ebay that says you've been outbid...those are often sent hrs late...they're not real time. Rely only on the live ebay screen and keep refreshing your screen so you see what's happening.

A few more points:

Marlin raised shipping charges....
~yes, because ebay charges sellers based on the SELLING price, some sellers try to "shift" the cost to shipping/handling and avoid some charges. That's not really an issue to YOU, just make sure you are aware of the s/h $ and add it to your budget for the item.

~More on s/h:......
when it says "FREE SHIPPING"...often the seller has padded their price to cover shipping. So you have to always add s/h to your price to make sure you're always comparing apples to apples when comparing prices of an item from several sellers.
Ebay recently changed policy on the sorting priority items are listed ....and those with "FRee Shipping" get listed earlier in YOUR search results.....better exposure/more likely to sell....so now you'll see a ton of "free shipping" offered so sellers get their items listed sooner on your search. All it really did was cause most sellers to pad their prices to cover s/h. But customers all like "free shipping" and think they're getting a great deal...so gotta watch out for that.

~Make sure you have a good idea what the item is worth!
Like Marlin said some on ebay are a rip off and you can get the item cheaper either locally or online somewhere. So don't get caught up in a bidding war and end up paying too much for an item.

As soon as I see an item I want, I research it on the web and see what it's going for, like at Amazon.com or the manufacturer directly or other sellers online.

If it's a rare or one of a kind (VX part ) then you decide how much it's worth to YOU and add the s/h and decide what your max bid will be. If I really want something, I'll bid some crazy high $ amount...(like when I found a purple dog crate....I HAD to have it! ) I was willing to pay like double because I couldn't find the same item anywhere else!

~PAYING for your item:
You pretty much have to open a PayPal account to buy stuff on ebay. Ebay OWNS PayPal, so they've tried to make it the only way to pay, so they can collect even more fees Occasionally you'll find a seller that will take a money order.
It's free to open a PayPal account. YOU do NOT get charged anything as the BUYER.....but the seller does get charged a % (around 3%).
PM me if you want more details about PayPal.

PM me if you have any more ?s.

Moncha...maybe we should start an "ebay - How to" to capture all this info?