Sniping is defined as bidding within the last few seconds of an auction in order to try and get the best price possible. At the last possible second, someone comes in and outbids you by a few pennies, leaving you no chance to react. Sniping is technically against eBay's rules, but is very rarely, if ever, penalized. Even if you report someone for snipping, it is unlike anything will be done. Unfortunately, in order to win the items you want, you are going to have to develop a sniper mentality. To protect against snipers, while remaining within eBay rules, you have a couple options.

The first and safer option is simply to keep a close eye on items you want to bid on. Make a note of the time and date your auctions will end and be sure to log back in 30 minutes or so before that time. Place one or more bids at that time and keep a close eye on the auction. The objective here is to either make sure you aren't outbid, or to rebid if you are. Since you'll have been logged in for 30 minutes, any last second bid you might have to make won't be considered sniping. As far as eBay is concerned, it is only a snipe if you login during the last couple minutes in order to place a bid in the very last seconds. Using this manual method, you should be aware of the possibility of automated bidders. It is very difficult to bid after a piece of automated software swoops in at the last second, so your best bet is to ensure you maximum bid won't be exceeded by a single additional bid.

The second way to protect against snipers is to join a sniping service or install software to do the job. A quick Internet search will reveal literally dozens of competitors in this field ranging from affordable priced options to rip-offs. On-line bidding services are usually pretty cheap and offer the advantage of not having to be on your computer at the time of the bid. However, the small fees add up quickly so if you are going to be doing a lot of bidding purchasing a software packing is probably your best option. With stand alone software, all you have to do is setup the software with your maximum bid and it will do the rest. The better software packages allow you to configure when you want to bid, thus allowing you to bid sooner than the last minute and avoid being in violation of eBay rules.