Lastly, I'd like to say that because of sniping, most people that use ebay frequently are almost required to snipe or wait for the last few minutes to try and steal an item.

One of the truest parts of an auction that is missed on ebay is the desire to win. Live auctions are more effective partially because bidders get mad in the heat of the moment when someone bids against them. There is a certain amount of high bidding in the last few bids of an auction (not always, obviously, but moreso with newer auctionees), because they don't want to lose and they impulsively raise the bid to win. This is lost on ebay because of sniping.

There is a huge difference between a fair market price, my reserve, and what I'd be willing to pay. I place a bid of what I think is a fair price, but I can't do that on ebay, because it will be sniped or fear that it will be sniped. My reserve is based on what i think the chip is worth. What I'm willing to pay is different. Am I willing to pay more? You'll never know because the auction is timed.

"So put a higher reserve."

the point of all this is that ebay is not like a live auction. with the 15 minute add on it would be closer to a real auction. Still not the same, but closer.