Something you may want to consider.

If your max Bid Meets or Exceeds the
Reserve-Price set by Seller; the eBay Automatic
Bidder raises the auction price to the
Reserve Price without any bidding war.

For example if a current auction has a reserve
price of 299.00 and there is a bidder already
at 10.00 or no one yet bidded and you enter a
high bid to bid on the box....suddenly the
auction price is raised to 299.00 because your
bid met or exceeded the reserve price.

In other words a big gap between you and
the other bidder; because of the reserve price
details as quoted:

"If your maximum bid is the first to meet or exceed the reserve price, the effective bid displayed will automatically be raised to the reserve price."

I'm curious, what did you expect it to do?

uh ok

Well, I suppose it can be a bit of a surprise to have your first accepted bid not be at 0.99 or whatever... but all eBayers bid a maximum. If you are the highest bidder at a price below your maximum bid, it shouldn't exactly be a shock, eh?