I have bought quite a few things from e-bay, but very rarely do I “bid” on them. I guess I have some of the same issues that you do, when I want something, I want it yesterday, and the thought of “losing” the item to someone makes me go mental 😛

Usually I just find the cheapest price listed in the “buy now” section and buy the item.

I have found e-bay pretty good, but I don’t really bargain hunt, I use e-bay to get what seems like “hard to find” items.

For example, I have a pair of manual lawn (edge)clippers that you cannot get anywhere. And you can’t even get them directly from the manufacturer (Fiskars), but low and behold you can find dozens of them on e-bay.