eBay communications are usually not well-timed. Someone in the IT department should be stepping up to take responsibility for this particular problem. At least it's not the worst communication problem... since as you say, most of us don't rely on eBay telling us when a watched item is about to end. (I am reasonably sure I set my preferences not to receive such notifications, since I have a Don-Giovanni's-Conquests-type list of watched items... as in, long.
