Well, that's certainly true. What happens to me is that I see an item for 4.99 with a couple of bids on it. The item has sold previously for $50. When I don't bid on the item, I often see it sold for 7.99. That bidder probably put in a bid for $45.00. Now seeing that bid of 7.99 I might be tempted to put in a snipe at $30 which would be a waste of time. It helps to know what the competition is.
I might mention that ebay apparently does not approve of raising the bid incrementally, a process they call "shill bidding", for which they can disbar you. I don't see anything wrong with trying to find out what the competing bids actually are though. You won't increase your cost in any event.
To avoid being stuck with the high bid, try to arrange that your bids come in at 14.99, 19.99 etc to reveal a bid at an even dollar amount.