You're working too hard! You are worried that AS will prevent you from winning an auction at the lowest possible bid, and think that you must still do a manual bid. As far as ebay is concerned, an AS bid and manual bid look exactly the same and are treated/processed identically.
I don't think you are capturing ebay's proxy bidding concept. The amount you bid doesn't have to be ONLY 1 bid increment above the current winning bid, it must be AT LEAST one bid increment above the current winning bid. Also the bid you place is not necessarily what you PAY when you win, it can be much less depending on what your competing bidders bid.
Let's say you went to ebay right now and find 5 printer inkjet cartridges auctions that end in 3 days. OK, let's say nobody has yet bid on ANY of these auctions and the minimum bid on each of them is $1. Now lets say you bid $10000(?! Yes!) on EACH of these auctions!?! When all the auctions end, what will have happened? I GUARANTEE you WILL have WON all 5 auctions! What will your bill be?? I GUARANTEE you it WON'T be $50000!!!! Ebay increases your winning bid by proxy ONLY to the minimum bid amount necessary to beat all competing bids. There aren't many ebay bidders out there bidding more than about $40 for a printer cartridge. That means the MOST you'd be paying would be about $41 x 5, or only $205. This in spite of the fact that you BID $10,000.00!!?! On FIVE auctions?!?! Now think about this, if NOBODY ELSE bid on those 5 auctions each of which you bid $10000 on, you would STILL win all 5 auctions at the opening bid of $1.00, or 5 x $1, or $5. It is the PROXY bidding, done by Ebay in your behalf that guarantees your bid in the absolute minimum possible and still beat all competing bidders.
The BOTTOM LINE is the highest bidder always wins, regardless of WHEN the bid is placed. So if someone places a bid that is HIGHER than the amount you snipe, YOU STILL LOSE! That's why you need to snipe the absolute highest amount you are willing to pay for any item. That way, if you win, you'll be happy to get it at or less than your bid. If you lose, you'll be happy that you didn't overpay for the item.
Does this help or just muddy the waters more??
Jabbergah