Terry

As a buyer and seller on EBay who uses a sniper programme, I have to say that I do agree with much of what you say. As a seller I would prefer people not to use the sniping programme, but I accept it happens and as I use it myself I can't really complain (well, I can but no-one listens ). But serioulsy, I do use the sniping programme because of the time that most auctiosn finish for me. As most chip sellers are based in the US, and most auctions finish in the evening in US time zones, for me that means they finish in the early hours of the morning for me (in the UK) much of the time. So using the snipe programme does mean I can bid without people seeing my bid in advance. If I win, great and if I lose then fair enough, someone bid more than me. What used to frustrate me was the bidder who would bid say $5 and if that wasn't enough, then bid $6 then $7 and so on either pushing my bid up or outbidding me. The fact is that sniping means that can't happen as the other bidder doesn't get a second chance. After all, if I want a chip then why would I want to give the other bidder, if there is one, extra chances to win the auction instead of me?

I guess it all comes down to the fact that I am a buyer who sells occasionally to raise cash to buy more chips! If I was mainly a seller then I would no doubt hate sniping programmes. And hey, anyone who outbids me that's fine by me (after maybe just a few minutes grummpiness if I really wanted the chip!) but if I outbid them, why does it matter when I did it.

Just my thoughts as a buying, selling, sniper