In a timed auction some one will always win at the buzzer. Automated program or not. It is not the other guys fault your bids were not high enough. I lose bids all the time because I was not willing to go higher. Even if I was willing to go higher it's my fault for not raising my limit. Some people just want a particular item more than I do.No one is robbing anybody,Internet auctions are not like a live auction where you keep bidding till you reach your limit, you put in your limit up front and hope it goes your way. I have sat at the key board and waited for the last second and hoped the other guys auto bid was not higher. Sometimes I win sometimes I don't. That is the glory or the agony of auctions. I don't write to a public forum that I don't have the money to outbid someone else. Timed auctions don't care if you were willing to bid more and did not get the chance. It is just like a sealed bid on a government contract. You put in what you think you can do the job for. If someone else's bid is lower do you say, well wait maybe I can do it for less, do over. BRAAAAGH sorry you don't get the contract. Say "crap" and move on. Even on the price is right tv show the guy at the end that is closer to the actual price wins the showcase and the other guy gets to go sit down. Auctions are not for the timid or weak of heart. Sorry if I have offended anyone.

Wow...even if I did read all that, I'm siding with Charlie. Sniping (or slamming) has been going on since internet auctions began.

I snipe all of the time (no BOTS I know of sniping this site though).

I win some, I lose some. Those I lose, are mostly sniped by someone else.

So what? That's how a internet auction works.

JMHO

I too have lost auctions at the last minute to anyone biidding. I usually will put in a bid as high as I am willing to go, if I lose at the last oh well, I just keep looking and trying to bid again if that item shows up again. I have been lucky the last 6 years, I have been bidding on this site, I have won some great trains at very good prices. I will continue to bid on this auction site. thank you

On a similar note, I have seen several items that show an initial bid with a time prior to the auction start time. In other words, the item first shows up on the site with a bid already made on it hours earlier. Has anyone else noticed this? Have some people found a way to hack into the listings before they are made public? It really does not matter except that it takes away the "buy it now" option...