All this is automatic and happens in the last few seconds of the auction. They are much faster than a person can do by hand. The snipes go until either you win, which again, could be much less than your maximum, or your maximum is surpassed and you don’t win. Either way, it is much more efficient and more likely to win a bid at a lower price than just placing manual bids.

The great thing about sniping is that manual bidders cannot see these bids coming until too late. Manual bidders may put in some amount less than their maximum, but above the current bid and think they are in line to win. But at the end of the auction the snipers kick in and make those last second bids.

If someone enters a manual bid during an auction that is higher than your maximum snipe limit, the snipe server will email you that you cannot win unless you are willing to raise your maximum. At this point, I usually let the items go, with no charge to me. I have not lost anything other than an item that I would consider too expensive.

You can usually get your first five or so snipe bids from any of the services for free. I suggest you give them a try before judging them. You might find you save money. If the items you try to purchase do end up at your maximum price or you are out bid, then you may be right, but as I said above, you wouldn’t have lost anything other than an item that’s out of your price range, anyway.

I have found that sniping has allowed me to purchase stuff for much less than when I just entered bids manually on eBay.