Scorpio115, I can relate and commiserate! I started shopping on eBay last Christmas, trying to find dated ornaments from 2000 onward. The same thing happened to me on my first bidding adventure. Right up until five minutes before the end of the auction, the ornament was mine. Then someone bid one dollar over me, but I happened to be on line and watching, so I counterbid, several times and won the item.

I have no proof, but I strongly suspect (because it's happened more than once) that these last-minute overbids could be orchestrated to boost the final bid for the item. Just in case that's true, maybe you should keep checking back on eBay over the next two weeks and see if it reappears. And this time, if you do bid again, watch it at the last minute so you can counterbid.