Double snipe?

It's really redundant, but you can always place a snipe manually as well as through AS. If it's something you really, really want, go ahead. But remember: if your manual bid is enough to win, but AS also puts in a bid you owe AS their fee, regardless. Good luck, and let us know how the auction comes out!

Won't AS still charge him even if it isn't able to place a snipe (ebay meltdown, snipe equal or lower than manual snipe)?

Grasshopper

But if I bid on the same item twice I won't raise my own bid right?

Right. It's no different than placing two proxy bids if you were high bidder. Your 2nd bid won't increase the amount (unless your 1st bid was under the next increment). But for you to place a 2nd bid, it would have to be higher than the 1st. Just think of AS' snipes as you placing a very, very short term proxy bids. Nothing magical about it. AS can't do anything more than you can, other than being substantially more reliable at leaving a snipe than you can.

Also, LEAD TIME, LEAD TIME, LEAD TIME. Use 8 second lead time, more on Sunday PM, and check out InstaMail.

Grasshopper

If you really really want the item, and you're going to be around to snipe it, then go for it.

I personally dont do it, but I probably would if it was like a once in a lifetime thing or something that only came up very very infrequently on eBay that I just had to have. I'm not really that way about things on eBay though. I'm more into things that there always seems to be a couple of all the time.

The day I start bidding on the rare, aka expensive, stuff is the day I unplug my computer and quit working here