David,

There is nothing wrong with sniping. All you have to do to avoid being sniped is make your bid the highest you are willing to pay. Then if you are sniped it makes no difference since you would have been outbid even if higher bid was made days earlier. The reason I snipe is that I often notice that bidding attracts more bids which drives the price up, it is not to steal an item from someone else, it is just to avoid encouraging higher bids.

If you bid higher than me then you you will win the auction period. You are welcome to snipe my bids I never would occur to me to be offended.