Am Very Sorry!
Sadly GE it seems last minute bidding is the only way to win anything worth wild on eBay these days.
If one really wants something, better to wait until the last minute and bid everything but one's first born.
The other option is to bid early with the highest possible amount you can afford, thus when a sniper comes at the last minute he/she will be outbid automatically by eBay's system providing his highest bid is lower than yours.
Say your highest bid was $400 and this sniper only bid $152 or $160, you sill would have won because eBay's system would automatically bid for you until either the auction ended and you won, or someone met and out bid your higest amount.
Again it seems these days bidding early leaves one as a sitting duck, especially if one does not monitor the final few minutes when most of the action takes place.
As for emailing the seller and asking him to offer a price, IIRC eBay forbids such actions. Some sellers will cancel an auction and relist with a "Buy It Now" price, but eBay has rules about under what conditions an auction can be outright cancelled. Of course the seller could disregard those rules, but he/she risks not only loosing listing fees, but being chucked off eBay as well.
Oh well, what's done is done, don't worry another will come sooner or later! Smile!
Or, we can round up some of the boys and go break some knee caps! *LOL*
Launderess