The ebay rules are effectively a sealed auction, with voluntary disclosure of intermediate bids. Highest bid at auction close wins. Pretty simple. I never really understood the sniping=cheating argument.

We can have some bidding strategy discussions on whether it ever makes sense for you to have highest bid shown well before the auction end (sometimes it can be helpful, sometimes not) but the rules are pretty simple.

In terms of pricing, the most transparent market price is when the most people have access to the market and all participants can see what trades and at what price. You have to admit ebay fulfils those criteria.