[Exhibitman]

I snipe things I want to go after, so I do not concern myself with other bidders' making max bids. Although I cannot prove it objectively, I think I pay less for auctions when I use a sniper than when I post a max bid and let people chip away at it. I believe one of the metrics Ebay uses to present items in its 'plugs' in closed listings and the like is bid activity, and if so, the more bids something draws, the more likely it is to be highlighted by Ebay as a 'popular' item.

I've gotten within a nickel of someone's max bid with a snipe. Definitely fun, but more from knowing I called the top rather than from a screw-the-opposition perspective. I mean, he doesn't know he was one increment from winning--for all he knows, my max bid was twice his.