Apparently you don't understand how eBay treats proxy bids. The winning bidder initially put in an amount that was ultimately sufficient to overcome your snipe five days later. However, eBay only shows the amount that is sufficient to be the high bid at any given time, up to the maximum amount of a bid. Let's say that the seller's initial asking price was $10.00. The first bidder enters a bid of $100.00. EBay will show his bid as $10.00 because that's all that's needed to be the high bid at that time. Nobody else bids for five days. Then, with 9 seconds left, you come in with a bid of $90.00. Instantly, eBay compares your bid to the other guy's bid and enters enough of his hidden proxy reserve (which was $90.00) to keep him as high bidder. When the smoke clears the winning bid is $91.00 (one increment higher than your bid) and the first bidder is the winner; you're in second place. Note that you would have had to bid $102.50 to win in this example. That's how much it would have taken to overcome the initial bid of $100.00. And that's how, how, how he managed to come back from five days earlier to top your bid without having to bid again. Capice?