Hi Fred, many people use the snipe software/tools on a regular basis. I like to use it on occasion because often the auction ends at a time when I'm not available to closely monitor the auction. There are two types of sniping that I know of - the free, and the paid(for fee) for subscription. I've used one called hammersnipe for over a year now (free) and it works just fine for me. However a couple times when I was available I noticed that it puts in the Free snipe about 20-30 seconds before the auction actually ends. When I've gone in myself and decided to bid higher, and end up getting the winning bid because someone's paid snipe service puts in the bid around 5-10 seconds before the auction ends.
So, you may want to consider some of those things.

Good luck bidding!