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Chuck RNot sure what you mean by outsniping. I generally use esnipe for everything. It's only failed once in a year and a half. If it is something that I have to have (something ultra rare,that is) then I will make a point of being there at the end and manually putting a bid in myself just in case my ensipe bid fails. My redundant esnipe bid in this case also backs me up if I do something stupid manually.
As far as outsniping goes, it really is a free-for-all in the last 10 seconds or so. Everyone just throws in their best shot and lets the chips fall. There's no time to manually react if you're outbid. For that reason, it's a little better to come in just before the other bids. I saw this happen just the other day (not to me). Check out this auction...if the underbidder had come in five seconds sooner he would have won it at $166.00 because the other guy's bid of $166.66 wouldn't have made the next bid increment:
http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=7161371343>