I had been sniped a few times back when mouldingworld.com was doing their auctions. It's irritating but a fact of life. I was able to manually outsnipe the sniping program a time or two which only works as a viable tactic if the auction itself has closing time integrity.
If you're really intent on buying something, a sniping program is a good thing if it allows you to put a ceiling on your bid. That way you can set your price and don't worry about checking on it.
ArtLady, I'm surprised at your comment, actually. Surely, with your computer background, you know that, even using SSL, cc numbers are out there for the taking when used over the ether. The reason they're not used is that hackers know that their actions are traceable and identity thieves need to have several instances line up before a given identity is a good candidate for their work. Most of us just don't fit what they need.
It seems to me that giving your cc number to a reasonably secure service is no different than using a cc number on Travelocity (who always asks me, "should we use the cc number ending in xxxx for this purchase?") to make a travel reservation.
I couldn't tell whether you were saying that giving your cc number to a service to use on your behalf was a bad thing or just using your cc at all online is bad. It's all risk which needs to be managed with open eyes, immho.
Risk avoidance is silly. There is no such thing as absolutely safe. As Michael Kinsley pointed out recently, "Life was a lot riskier than we believed before 9/11. It's not near as risky as we now fear."