High lead time needed?

eBay offers discounted fees to sellers who post auctions that end exactly on the quarter hours, with the result being that there is more online activity during those exact minutes, as the auctions close. For this reason, AS recommends the thirty second lead.

I would simply use 30 seconds, as has been advised. As you said, there will likely be other snipers in your auction, so they are already planning their bids, independent of yours. The best thing to do is simply set your MAX--the absolute most you are willing to pay. When the smoke of the last minute clears, you will find out if it was enough. From what you describe, there really is no issue of tipping your hand, since the snipers are already lining up. Remember, if you were to submit a bid, and then see another, higher bid, and were ready to up your bid, then the first bid was NOT your true MAX.

Good luck and do let us know how it turns out.

Thanks for the reply! I won the item, and it appears that there was less sniping action than I expected. The guy's reserve was actually pretty high, but it was still quite a bit less than my max, so I'm happy! I was hoping for a true "silent auction" type of scenario, and was worried that 30 seconds wasn't "silent" enough, but you're absolutely right about the tipping of the hand thing. Seasoned bidders are going to go with their absolute max, and that's who I was most concerned about. I just need to get used to that concept. I intend to keep the item, not turn it around for a quick profit. That played in my favor here. The most important lesson for me today was that Auction Sniper works as advertized!

I do know that AS works. But the secret is to research the value. Then set your max price on AS (avoids running the price up). Sit back and relax. You will know that if you get it, great, if not at least you did not over pay. Also, sooner or later another of those gizmos will be along.
The only bids I have lost with AS are the ones that someone else was willing to pay more than me. So be it. I have gotten another one at my price or lower later.
Enjoy the fun of AS.