Problems that sniping creates

Seller closed the auction early

Occasionally you may try to bid on an auction you've been watching and find that it closed before you expected it to. There are a couple of reasons why this can happen.

The seller may have ended the auction early. A seller might do this because the item appears to be attracting no interest, or because a buyer outside the eBay community has made an offer for it.

This risk is inherent in sniping. The only way to avoid it is to bid early and accept all of the risks that sniping is meant to avoid. An even then the seller can cancel your bid and close the auction if there is a legitimate reason for doing so; for example, if the seller discovers that the item is not in the condition described.