Hi Chuck,
Here was, I think, the last time someone started a thread on early snipes:
https://community.auctionsniper.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/385608021/m/5141065771
I’d say the forum gets a new thread on this subject about every 2 weeks. Usually it’s on Mondays because Sunday evening is ebay’s prime time. The above link contains the typical responses from forum members, such as, a) “My snipes are working”; b) “It’s not the last bid that wins”; c) “Probably another sniping service”; d) In case of a non-win, then someone comes in and discusses “might have won”. All of these typical responses are fairly irrelevant.
The reason your snipe was placed early was that AS decided it needed to place it early to better insure that the snipe wouldn’t be too late. On Sunday evenings, and for auctions ending exactly on the quarter hour, at times, such as your snipe and those other biweekly threads I mentioned, it appears that AS over compensates. Obviously if another sniper could respond to your snipe, then it would appear that AS placed the snipe too early.