Time remaining in "Confirm Bid" window out of synch with time shown in description

[bambopbam]

A few weeks ago eBay changed the bid confirm pop-up window, and now the countdown to the end of the auction is out of synch.  Big time.  

You can easily see for your self.  Pick any auction to bid on and enter a bid (you don't have to confirm the bid).  The time in the confirm window pop-up will be about 5 seconds out of synch than the time displayed in the item description page.  For example, if you think you have 10 seconds left to bid the pop-up window will show you actually have 5 seconds left. 

As an active bidder and sniper since 1997 this change is befuddling, and it will impact sniping.  Who knows why they did this... are they trying to mess with sniping?  The entire eBay world exists on sniping.

[eburtonlab]

The countdown you see on the item page or bid entry is generated by your computer, and how closely it matches eBay's time depends on many factors, including how long ago the page was last refreshed, how many processes your computer is running and how many resources are available.

I tried three different browsers and several different auctions on my Windows 10 machine, and the difference shown between the counter on the item page and the bid entry popup was less than a second in each case, with the bid entry field slightly ahead, updating about a half second before the item listing display.

eBay explicitly permits sniping, so I doubt that eBay is intentionally doing anything to make sniping harder or less accurate, aside from implementing certain security measures like verification requirements for certain bids that can make sniping difficult in some situations.

[bambopbam]

What browsers did you test with?  I use Opera and it is definitely out of synch.  It never used to be.

[eburtonlab]

Firefox 101, Edge 102 and Opera GX 101.

I got similar results using Opera 87, though in that case the bid entry popup is about a half-second behind the countdown in the item listing.

After updating to Opera 88 and restarting the browser, the countdowns are just about simultaneous.

[bambopbam]

No sorry... the time you see (countdown or otherwise) is on eBay's computer.  Not mine.   Also... I'm not making this up and I'm not seeing things.  Literally I snipe anywhere from 1 to a dozen items a week.  It is not working like before.

[eburtonlab]

the time you see (countdown or otherwise) is on eBay's computer.

No. The time left is provided once by eBay at the time the page is loaded and is subject to network lag and other effects; from there the countdown that you see is maintained entirely by your computer. There are many things that can effect the accuracy of the countdown.

[bambopbam]

A few days ago eBay reverted back to the confirm window of old and now the time remaining is back in synch with the item description.   Strange.

[plummark1709]

The pop-up 'Confirm bid' window obscures the time shown in the 'Time left' field under the listing title.

But, when I was trying to place a bid using Opera, the 'confirm bid' window suddenly disappeared about 14 seconds before I could press it! I had no other programs running or tabs open on Opera.

So I couldn't bid on a £600 item.

The next time I did a last second bid, I had a second window open with the 'Time left' clearly shown. 

When the 'Time left' field was at 1 minute exactly, The 'Confirm bid' window showed 1 minute 14 seconds.

That IS out of sync!

So I bid at 23 seconds to compensate (my normal is 8 seconds), my bid was accepted, but sure enough, the bidding window disappeared after 9 seconds or so, not the 23 seconds apparently remaining.

My guess is it's that helpful, charming eBay firm again, but I will try another browser next time just in case.

[eburtonlab]

The pop-up 'Confirm bid' window obscures the time shown in the 'Time left' field under the listing title.

Try scrolling down a bit before using the "bid" button so the pop-up does not hide the countdown on the item listing page.

Since this thread was begun, eBay has apparently changed the bid entry process. Others have noticed problems with the countdown on the bid entry pop-up stuttering or stopping. If possible, use the countdown on the item page rather than the bid entry pop-up.

[simba6]

It's been jumping around a few weeks now.  I have not had any issues using a snipe service. Might want to look into one.

[plummark1709]

Tried again 22 Aug 2022 with another browser, Avast Secure Browser version 164.0 (.18088.102), and got the same problem, but 16 seconds difference.

The 'Time left' in the listing was accurate, but the time remaining countdown as shown in the 'Confirm bid' pop-up window was 16 seconds later.

So if you wanted to place your bid for say, 10 seconds before the item ended, you would actually have to click 'Confirm bid' when the Confirm bid pop-up window timer read 26 seconds.

[rrr555]

Ebay is losing millions

[simba6]

That "clock" has not been working right for over two months now.   You could try a different browser as that is where it's running. 

[riocalypso]

my timer is 5 minutes slow...fkng crooks