eBay

bambopbam · ‎08-19-2022

Ebay has once again been messing with the end time which is now not the real end time. Twice today I sniped with my usual 4 seconds left on the second countdown timer only to witness the counter reset to 15 seconds left. Lost both items after it appeared I had won both.

ripsmc · ‎08-20-2022

I've always sniped with about 3-4 seconds left, never had a problem with it, and consider it a sport. My late wife said I was sadistic for doing this and admittedly I won't argue that point. 🙂

bearswatching · ‎08-20-2022

I,too, wonder why anyone has to ask someone how long they have been on eBay. I just put it down as too lazy to do the math. LOL

bearswatching · ‎08-20-2022

I’m with you. Big honkin desktop. Can’t remember the last time I lost a snipe.

woodland_gnome · ‎08-20-2022

Your bid must be RECEIVED and timestamped at ebay's servers before the end of the last second. The countdown is NOT (and never has been) a real-time feed of bids coming in and eBay's clock counting down and is not an accurate measure of how much time you have left to submit the bid (click the confirm button) so it is received in time. It is rather a script that runs on your device periodically calling for updates on the status and time remaining, and uses your device's clock to count down from the time left display it last received from eBay (which took time to traverse the internet and get loaded into your device's RAM so your clock could start counting down). There is no adjustment for latency either way and so it is doubly slow compared to the time you would have to submit for it to get to eBay in time. This is not new, I experimented with it when it first came out and found it 11 seconds slow (with a DSL connection; a faster connection minimizes the delays but doesn't get rid of them entirely). There have been issues (mostly with the countdown stalling) in the past week or so, but the systemic problems are also still there and will almost certainly be if they get the current glitches fixed (plus the new ones they introduce fixing the old ones, of course).

Back before the countdown was introduced, it is was relatively easy (and fun) to synch a local clock to the time remaining by clicking refresh on the Bid History Page at a particular noted time per the local clock (top of a minute was easiest) and then adding the returned time remaining to that time; this automatically adjusted for latency both ways and gave you the second before which you had to click the confirm button (best to do that a few times and pick the earliest result and add a solid buffer time since latency can change). A fast connection was unnecessary, but a steady one was the major factor (hence doing it several times and picking the earliest). But the countdown replaced the static display that enabled you to get a single unchanging time left display upon refreshing so it's not so easy anymore. I suppose you can try making an immediate note of the time remaining at the refresh of the countdown and add that to your local clock time, but I now use and recommend a "snipe service" to place your one true maximum bid about 6 seconds out; mine allows limited snipes for free (up to 4 wins per month) or several different pay plans if you are using it more frequently (or want a bit more reliability that comes with a "mirror server" in another location than the main server) and uses an eBay supplied API instead of the glitch user interface. It also captures any error message that eBay returns if the bid is unsuccessful, as opposed to you using the user interface where any such error message is overwritten when the countdown gets to 0 so you generally don't even see it much less be able to read it. There are other snipe services out there with their own plans, but we are not allowed to make unsolicited recommendations of particular ones.

mudslidemud · ‎08-31-2022

I've experienced this twice now with bids. Last night while waiting for five seconds left to enter bid, when it got to around ten or nine seconds, it immediately jumped to 0 seconds and I no matter what I clicked on, it wouldn't take my bid. This is the second time this has happened to me. If there is a new policy regarding last second sniping, I cannot find it.

femmefan1946 · ‎08-31-2022

If you need to use a last nano-second bid, use an online sniping company like esnipe dot com.

But you would be better a few minutes before the end, to bid once and bid your maximum.

It is very likely the sniper who beat you used one of those tactics.

It's not the last bidder who wins, it's the highest.

If eBay shows the high bid as $100 and you dash in with $101, even if your bid is accepted you will not win if the $100 high bid was really a $125 maximum bid. Because as the earlier maximum bid is higher.