time

[no.1rickhead]

This has painfully come to my attention that if your computer /server does not have the correct time, say the time is 3 minutes fast when you bid last minute on an item that wont be last minute. Apparently Ebay does not run the system off their clock but the clock on your computer. I know this does not sound right but that has happened. My computer said 12:03 when time is actually 12:00 so I bid on an auction that ended at 12:03 and was out bid because I was 3 minutes ahead. Does not work like that on the mobile app , but if your server does not update correctly this happens.  So in conclusion a multi-million dollar Ebay system does not transmit its own time but uses the clock on the device you are bidding from. Maybe some of that money they have been raking in should be used to make a system that uses their clock.

[12345jamesstamps]

My computer and iPhone corrects itself for the time.

Strange how someone using wifi or a service provider gets the wrong time.

"so I bid on an auction that ended at 12:03 and was out bid because I was 3 minutes ahead"...One would think you won...maybe you meant to say 3 minutes behind.

[eburtonlab]

If your auction countdown is not behaving correctly, check to make sure your computer's time is set correctly, and the date and time are synchronized with an internet time server such as time.windows.com or time.gov.

Check your computer's time here:

https://time.is/

If your computer's time is not synchronized with an internet time server this can cause the problems you describe.

[kathiec]

I bid on an auction that ended at 12:03 and was out bid because I was 3 minutes ahead

It's not the last bid that wins, it's the highest bid. You were outbid because either you didn't bid your true max bid or someone was willing to pay more. 

[simba6]

That count down clock runs on your computer.  It gets re synced by eBay's servers every so often.  There has been a lot more back and forth added to eBay pages.  Info it being sent to third party ads that then send targeted ads back to to you.  That slows your computer down and messes up the timer.

You can use a bid snipe service if you want last second bids placed.