Whether this is one person or a group of people, the only thing he/she/it has is lots of money. The only common denominator and provable fact. It is possible to "get professionals to bid for you on eBay" (that's right, you're so loaded down with cash that you can hire someone else to wait to the last second) and as you mentioned, there is software-- it's not illegal.
As far as others more deserving not getting it-- it's only a question of money and those "professionals" I mentioned and/or software (which may be how they can go to their regular job and let the software make them a little extra money).
Looking at the issue from a military strategy perspective, how does one win against such a formidable opponent? Since money is the "weapon" in this conflict, I would suggest several people get together and pool their resources or take out a loan and have a "war chest" at your disposal. Sound outlandish? Well, there are people who will remortgage their home in order to take an expensive vacation (and how can that compare to getting possession of one of a kind Luftwaffe photos?
).
Ed