I have to disagree, sniping services work the best for me, and security is a non-issue because even if someone did manage to bid from my account, that's the end their abilities. They wouldn't even be able to pay for what they bought. For people using the same password on every site, it would certainly be dangerous to give that info to a third party.
Sniping is the only way that I would consider using ebay, otherwise you're part of the rush to bid things up, which should be the opposite of your strategy-You'll be protected from spending more than originally planned because of last minute competitiveness, and you won't reveal yourself to the other bidders, which always ups their bid prices. Not having to be there at the close of the auction is just the most obvious side benefit.
Most snipe services also allow you to set bid groups, so you can lowball 5 of the items you want and wait out the one that no one bids on. You can also do contingency sets, which says that if I lose one auction, don't bid on the next. This helps buy things that are acquirable in parts, like keyboard trays or old blenders (contingency bid on a matching motor & jar, and you've got a blender).
I don't just snipe on Ebay though--I am a sniper. Just like the Mac people.
