The secret of bidding on eBay with or without Sniping isn't to enter the lowest amount you want to pay but the highest you're willing to pay for an item.
I've done pretty well with & without sniping by doing that. The advantage to sniping is that your one and only bid comes at the end of auction. You're not making multiple bids DRIVING UP the price for everyone including yourself. So make it a reasonable paying price for the item. I almost always pay less than my highest bid.
The only one who benifits from a bidding war is the seller. Don't feel bad for a seller. He should have priced his item to make his money in the first place. What you as a sniper are controlling is his profit margin. Which comes out of your pocket.
There are also MILLIONS of auctions running at anytime on ebay. The odds that someone else is using an automated snipe system against you is proportional to how many bids on a particular item. With AS you can control when your snipe goes in (8 seconds before close, etc) If you are concerned, experiment with the timing to maximize your bidding.
John Rowt
Integrity is being good even when no one is watching