John,

Sniping in Ebay terminology is the act of bidding at the very end of the auction.

Some people object to this because they claim that it doesn't allow them time to raise their bids.

This argument is only made by people who di not understand the nature of the proxy bidding system.

Because there are so many people who do not understand the proxy bidding system, sniping is an effective wayof keeping down the price on items you win.

Example

Item has opening bid of $9.99

Buyer A wants the item and would pay up to $30.00 so he enters a bid of $9.99 thinking that if he gets outbid he can raise his bid . . . until it hits $30.00.

Buyer B like the item and is willing to pay up to $31.00 for it. He understands proxy bidding and posts his bid for $31.00

Buyer A now comes back and starts bidding until he hits his maximum of $30.00. Auction ends and Buyer B wins it for $31.50

In the sniper scenario:

Buyer B waits until the end of the auction an with seconds left he enters his proxy bid of $31.00. Buyer A never gets a chance to raise his bid and thus Buyer B gets the item for $10.24.

If Buyer A entered his high bid to begin with it would have made no difference when the second bid was made.