Hi death,
You are in the grip of a chronic disease that only becomes more acute as time goes on. And that's the good news. One day it's 40 bucks on a decent burner, then it's a couple of hundred bucks on a slightly more decent burner, and before you know it, Spot is looking at you wanting to know where Little Timmy went, not knowing that Little Timmy was sold for organs to pay for that Bo Nordh. But you know that the Nordh will give you more pleasure than Little Timmy is ever likely to. And you don't have to worry about the Nordh knocking up some bimbo at a drunken Frat party.
Sniping is a fact for eBay, but it's not eBay's fault, it's just human nature to look for an edge or to try to find an angle. And sniping can be about the dumbest financial ploy ever designed by humans, as I've see time after time after time on eBay. It's very amusing to watch dueling snipers "win" an item at a cost of three to ten times market price. Sniping is terrific for sellers, and a sucker play for buyers.