Jill,
Two things:

1. What it boils down to is someone else wanted that chip worse than you did. No big deal, there will be another one. It wasn't meant to be.

2. Check out http://www.esnipe.com By using esnipe, you're not getting up in the middle of the night to check or place bids, it does it for you. You can be the sniper instead of the snipee.<g>

Good Luck & Happy Chippin'!