Bidder names are never visible, except to the seller. This is not something that the seller has any control over, Ebay hides the names.
The only reason anyone loses an auction is because they didn't bid high enough, to begin with, and were outbid. There are two common trains of thought, as to how best to bid.
1. Use a sniping program, or manually snipe, by bidding in the last few seconds of the auction. This can still result in a lost auction if someone else has previously set a proxy bid equal to or higher than your bid. Tie bids go to the person who entered that amount the earliest, whether that amount shows up or not. Setting a proxy bid will not always result in you paying that amount. The amount you end up paying will be determined by the second highest bid + the next bid incriment.
2. Bid once, at any time during the auction, then forget the auction. Bid the highest amount you are willing to pay. You can bid this amount early, mid auction or later in the auction...it doesn't matter. The reason it doesn't matter is because you've bid the highest amount you're willing to pay. If you get outbid, someone else was willing to pay more than you felt the item was worth so you shouldn't be disappointed. If you win, you pay an amount equal to the second highest bidder + the next bid incriment. As an example, you see an item you really like, near the beginning of the auction...you feel that the item is worth $12.00. You bid $12.00. At the time, the bid amount may only show as $1.99 so your $12.00 bid raises the current bid by the incriment amount (say .50) to $2.49. You completely ignore the auction until you receive an email saying you've won or lost. If you win, you will win the item for an amount of $12.00 OR LESS! If you lose, someone else felt the item was worth more than $12.00.
The easiest way to get frustrated is to get into a bidding war. Avoid bidding wars at all cost!
