Determine your maximum spend - wait until the last 5 seconds - bid your max

OK, now that I said that, determining your maximum spend is the problem. I would say that as a beginner you should add the cost of a professional hone to that cost (subtract it from what you actually bid) so if you think you would go to $80 and the hone is $20 bid $60.

Now, how you determine that maximum spend is your concern. I always look at what I see things actually sell for - get the feel of the cost of a few items that have sold. That is only a part of determining your maximum spend because there is a "feeling" factor - as in how strong a feeling you have for a particular item. I would spend X for a SR but XX or even XXX for one that really struck me as desirable.