The other option is to contact the seller offer a good price and buy it beforehand. He is then able to remove it without any cost to him.
Heres how I bid for stuff if I really want something, that will sell on Ebay.
19 bids is how many bids and could be from the same few people.
Because many people have automatic bids set up, when you put a bid in you'll be instantly outbid because your bid is small and they have much higher number set up.
Put the true figure you'd be willing to spend, i.e. £1003. Always put a number slightly higher than a whole number in case someone has put in the whole number. This way you'll win.
Have your account ready, open, and your bid typed in. If you've never bid before, try it to now by placing a £5 bid. More than likely you'll be outbid but if the winning bidder doesn't come through or the item gets removed beforehand, you'll be notified.
So after having typed your bid in watch the countdown clock and when it hits 5 seconds press the bid now button with your full true price. Cross yours fingers and hope for the best.
Tell us how you went.