littlelamb67,
Listing maintenance is done 6 hours, which updates information like hit count, bid count, and bid price of your active listings in Auctiva. You should be able to view an up-to-date bid count by clicking on the listing and reading the hits right off the counter.
I'm not sure what you mean by the program determining the starting price of your auction...for that one, you may want to file a support case by clicking the appropriate link on our help page so our support staff can look into your particular case.
-Mike