how many items can you bid on

[silverpinups]

You can bid on as many items as you like, as long as you have your PayPal set-up and linked to your eBay account and there are no restrictions on your account (unpaid item strikes).

eBay has a endless array of goods for sale but use some restraint and common sense when shopping. 

It's very easy to lose focus and shop beyond your financial limits.  

[i.am.vivian]

You can bid on items and buy things if you are only using a credit card too.  Most guest purchases seem to be made that way.  There are some restrictions on buyers, or new buyers, but not much.  I won't try to explain them, you can just look here if you want to:

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/sell/limits-on-buyers.html#why

If you are new and you've never done this before, knowing some of the bidding info from here can save you SO MUCH grief:

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/aboutbidding.html

[momcqueen]

While both answers above are true, there is a limit to how much you can bid on or try to buy right at first.  

Ebay needs to see the account is valid before they relax a bit. This is for everyone's protection.

And there are also the individual seller's limit that may be exceeded. Some sellers set limits for all or new members that prevent a single buyer from swooping in and wiping out a seller's entire stock of everything and then leave without paying. If you have found you are hitting a limit, it may be one or both of these. 

[reallynicestamps]

EBayers have lots of opinions, don't we? Even when we are basically agreeing with each other.

My opinion is that buyers are best protected by using Paypal backed by a credit card. This gives you coverage by eBay's Buyer Protection (good for 30 days after delivery), Paypal's Buyer Protection (good for 180 days after payment) and whatever coverage your credit card gives under their Chargeback Policy.

I hope you never need to use any of these.

[momcqueen]

Very true!

One more thing. As we're heaping on advice, I wrote a Guide for the new ebayer awhile ago. Perhaps you'll find it useful: http://www.ebay.ca/gds/10-Steps-to-Hassle-Free-Buying-on-eBay-/10000000204740571/g.html