Newbie question

If no one else bids, there will be no bids until AS places your snipe at the last moment.

AS will place the maximum bid amount you entered at the time you requested. If that amount meets the reserve, then the reserve is met. If it doesn't, it doesn't. If someone else has bid higher than your maximum in the meantime, you will lose the item.

You have to keep firmly in mind that although you entered a bid amount into AS maybe a week before the auction, AS does absolutely NOTHING until the few seconds before the auction. So as far as ebay and the item and the other bidders are concerned, you don't exist until that last moment when your snipe occurs. So it always occurs in the context of what has happened before it.

If you are present and able to modify your AS snipe entry, up until a few minutes before the auction you can raise your maximum if it is outbid (AS will notify you of outbids if you want,) BUT KEEP IN MIND THE BID STILL DOESN'T OCCUR at that time. It still sits in waiting for the snipe.

So if you are going out of town, your only recourse, really, is to put your maximum-maximum in your AS snipe entry before you leave.

Excellent answer, Melanthe. I would add only that no matter how much your max-max bid is, eBay will only register the amount needed to win. If the item closes at $10 and your max-max bid is $100, you only pay the $10, not the whole $100. In that context, I always advise setting a bid amount which is the absolute most you are willing to pay for an item. If you lose to a higher bid, you have the consolation of knowing that the other bidder paid more than you were willing to pay.

And no matter how badly you want something on eBay, let it go if it's too expensive. Another one just like it WILL come around again later.