What is the difference between bidding during the 1st 10 seconds or the last 10 seconds of an auction? Nothing, as far as I'm concerned, I draw no distinction between the two. If my snipe bid is sucessful, what it boils down to is I wanted it worse than the other bidder, if there is another bidder.

I believe that by bidding early in an auction, you are potentionally starting a bidding war, which just raises the price of whatever you are looking to buy. So I use esnipe.com to place just about all of my bids. Just my 2 cents worth.
Regards
Bill R-4581