>I really didn't realize it would BE the bid
(i.e. straight bidding). 

Are you saying that if you bid, for example,
10,000 yen on a cel, then no matter what, your
bid will be 10,000 yen? Even if the next high
bidder was only willing to pay up to 5,000 yen?

If that's what you're saying, then you're
mistaken. I bid 15,000 on a cel, but the final
price was only ("only") 12,000 yen. I did not
end up paying my high bid.

As for Sato not being able to bid strategically,
I understand the frustration, but have you seen
how many people have visited his site in the
past few weeks? It jumped from barely two-hundred
hits to over 1,100. He's busy. When his site
was first mentioned here, I thought it would
be considerate to give him a bit of a warning,
since I have used his service in the past and 
found him very easy to deal with. Do you know
what his response was? The only thing he was
worried about was not being able to give people
the kind of personal attention he had given to 
others in the past. I think that's pretty damn
telling about what kind of person he is. So I 
think what you're experiencing is his compensating
for an influx of bid requests. Maybe, in the past,
he might have been able to "work-up" a bid, so
you don't give away your limit immediately. But 
to ask
him to do that for God knows how many people?
I think you just need to be satisfied with the
service he's offering. Not many people are
willing to act as the middle man. Believe me,
I've done a fairly thorough job of looking.

In regards to having your own ID. I've run into 
the same problem. Then I remembered on one
of the sign-up pages that I says, in english, that
only bidders who are fluent in written Japanese
are permitted to bid. My guess is that our
personal information tipped them off and the page
that is prompted after trying to bid is some sort
of security net. They really don't want us there
people. Even if the sellers are willing to ship
overseas. I may be wrong about this. If anyone
knows what that extra page is about, then correct
me if I'm mistaken.

In any case, I hope no one is giving Sato any
flack for his service. I'm sure he's doing the
best he can.

-sawyer