I bid a few different ways. It all depends on what the item is, the price and how much I want it. Most of what I bid on is fairly inexpensive.
Some stuff I just bid and let it go at that, usually stuff that I've got a good idea of the typical price and already have an example of. And more often than not something that's also listed poorly or misidentified.
Other stuff I snipe manually. It takes a connection that's both good and fast, and some concentration.
The stuff I really want I'll bid early, sometimes early bids help a seller stay with an auction instead of ending it early. Then I'll snipe at the end.
On fairly rare occasions, I'll bid early and have more than one snipe setup to be done manually. So marker bid, snipe I'd be really happy with, one that's basically what I think full price should be, and a final one for whatever the outer limit of what I'd pay is. I can get through 3 bids in about the last 10 seconds.
Of course, it doesn't always work out. I might play a game with 5 min to go and end up spending just over 5 min
Or can't get to the second snipe if the computer acts up. Or sometimes I'm simply way wrong about what price the item will get, and place the first snipe only to have it not be accepted AND the current bid is way beyond what I can spend.
The more involved bidding is usually on something I've discussed with my wife, and when she asks how I did I usually tell her "good news, bad news - both that I didn't spend a bunch of money on something" We always discuss bigger purchases, and she's pretty knowledgeable about all the stuff I collect. Helps keep me keep working towards a goal if I have one and deflects me from the sillier stuff I want that will eventually be in the "why did I buy that?! " category.
Steve B