It is not right, it is like cheating.
I actually agree, but increasingly if you bid on eBay you're probably going to get sniped. So I've joined in, and now win more auctions.
I just put in a max bid of what I'm prepared to pay, and let the auction continue normally, as is the intention of auctions. If I win, by definition I'm happy. If it goes over my max, I don't want it at that price.
I put a max bid into the sniping software, and let the auction continue. My bid goes in 20 seconds before the auction ends and I either win or I don't.
But I haven't "shown my hand" early, allowing other bidders to decide to go higher, or snipers to set their snipe up a bit higher. I haven't paid any more than I would have done manually ... if fact because my bid went in 20 seconds before the auction ends there's 0% chance that I'll see I'm losing and be tempted to try another £5 just to see...
Maybe I'm a bad person
RC