Dave Hinz wrote:

Yes. ROFL all you want, but the reason you're doing it (hypothetically,
of course) is to get the item without them having a chance to outbid
you. Tell me I'm wrong. It's all about you doing it to them so they
can't do it to you. Do you deny that?

OK, you're wrong. They can outbid me instantly if they've placed a
proxy. Even if they haven't read eBay's recommendations on how to bid,
anyone with half a brain can figure it out after an auction or two.

There's no way that I can be sure that sniping has saved me money (i.e.
there's no way you can prove that the sellers have lost money). Yet
I'll do it anyway, because it has other advantages that you either
ignore or don't understand.