eSnipe

Located at www.esnipe.com, this service is currently free to use and only requires that you register, using the same user name and password as with eBay.

Once you have found an auction that you wish to snipe, you enter that into the esnipe server, using either the auction number or the url for the auction. You also choose the amount to bid, how many you wish to bid for (in the case of dutch auctions) and how much time before the auction you wish the bid to be placed. If there is no lag from eBay, the Rovatron server that eSnipe uses can place a bid within just a couple of seconds of the auction's end.

While the service was somewhat unreliable when it was first introduced due to difficulties with net traffic and eBay's own service, the Rovatron server is much more capable of dealing with common eBay delays and errors and has an extremely high success rate.

When you choose your options, you can choose to receive email from eSnipe regarding your bids, when you place a bid with eSnipe, when the bid is placed with eBay and whether or not that bid is successful.

You can also check the status of any bids you have with eSnipe. This list will stay until you choose to remove items, which can be done one at a time, or in bulk via checkboxes.

On May 16th, they will start charging a 1% fee on all successful auctions with a value of more than $25.00. The top end of this fee is $10.00 for any single auction. This is payable using BidPoints™ which are purchased in advance. These are also required to place snipe bids on non-standard eBay auctions. Also, there is the possibility that if you do not pay BidPoints™ to guarantee that eSnipe places your bid, they may not place your snipe bid. If you have not purchased enough BidPoints™ to cover a successful auction, a fee of $.50 will be imposed.