Since you have a reserve the starting bid could have been lower, but there is already a bid on one of the flutes. The critical factor is the reserve price. Snipers may be waiting, too.
While far from an ebay expert, I tend to wait until the last few minutes to bid. It seems useless otherwise, that’s when most of the activity occurs and to bid earlier would just run up the price.
How do flutes with the metal band around the embouchure hole feel? Do you have to adjust your embouchure? Does it effect the sound of the flute or give it a different character?