As has been stated, the agent acts on behalf of the vendor – their job is to extract as much money from the sale as possible, in the interests of the vendor.
Remember also that a typical estate agent is on a very aggressive wage ratio of basic to commission (typically £15k basic), so before casting judgement, think how hard you would push on a sale if your take home pay depended on it. I know for sure that I’d be doing everything possible (within the law) to maximise every single sale.
Back to the OP’s question – decide how much you want the property. If you love it (rather than just “like”) then put a bid in that you think will close the deal and get you the property. You’d be gutted if you missed out for a few grand if it is somewhere you really like.