Long story short, I never win any items on the auction house by Bidding on them unless there is zero interest.
Every time I find an item on the auction house that's going to end soon, this is what happens:
30 minutes left: I bid.
You are outbid.
I bid again.
Now the auction has 30mins to 2 hours left.
I'm outbid.
I bid again.
Now the auction has 2 hours to 12 hours left.
...wtf...
...Now I'm not going to be playing when the auction ends.
Next day, I log in and I've lost the auction. Surprise Surprise.
Why on earth do they extend the auction deadline when there is ANY sort of half-assed bidding war? That seems like a VERY poor design.