Trying to get in last minute bids using a computer

[2015newday]

Has anyone else had problems trying to get in last minute (or even last second) bids using a home laptop computer? ( I have read that people have been having problems with the ebay app while using a phone but I am not talking about that.)

I notice that the new bidding screen is different and it is much, much more difficult to tell when you've been outbid  and it seems impossible to get in the last second "hail mary" bids by clicking on one of the three preset options that are given?    I haven't had any luck with auctions since they seemed to have changed the screen.   

Any ideas or tips?

Is there a chance that ebay will go back to the original bidding screen? 

Thanks!

[hkfever456]

trying to snipe huh? well i aint going to help, cause we may be after the same stuff. but i find it interesting that ebay is attempting to combat bots doing bids and buying up product. Maybe in their new design they are trying to implement things in the tech to thwart bots and that may include stalls on the countdown clock and such to try to help identify if the site is dealing with a human or not. 

[2015newday]

You raise an interesting point.  I'm pretty much technologically impaired ( yes, I use a computer and I don't have a smart phone) but, as you said, I guess that they may be trying to do some things that are beyond my understanding.  I don't use bots  ( I'm not really  sure that I totally know or understand them and I definitely wouldn't be able to define or explain them!) but I was getting pretty good at doing things manually on my computer.

I'm finding that it is difficult to see when I've been outbid in the closing seconds so I can't seem to get in a "hail mary" bid.

P.S. I hope that we're not going after the same stuff!   Maybe that's why I keep losing! lol.

[alcoforever]

If you are waiting to see if you have been outbid, you will have a very difficult time winning anything.

Best strategy is to decide ahead of time the absolute most you will pay for the item,  add a few cents to that number for tie breaking, and then bid as late in the auction as you can.

If you win, great.   If you lose, the other fool way overpaid for the item.

[woodland_gnome]

First, don't bid less than you are willing to pay and expect to rebid  if you are outbid.  That is a recipe for losing to someone else for less than you are willing to pay.  Especially do NOT use the one-click buttons--they are not only bad strategy and tactics but they are dangerous in that the amount submitted can change quicker than you can register it.  Bid your TRUE maximum the first and only time you bid:  you are never guaranteed a rebid and it is totally unnecessary to take other bidder's bids into account in determining your bid (other than to assume someone else will or has bid about the same as you so add a few cents as a tiebreaker) since they will already have been taken into account in setting the price if you win.

Your bid must be RECEIVED and timestamped at ebay's servers before the end of the last second. The countdown is NOT 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.

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). 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 now use and recommend a "snipe service" to place your one true maximum bid about 6 seconds out; mine allows limited snipes for free 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.

[2015newday]

Thanks for taking the time to write.  It's appreciated.   I guess that I'm used to the old screen that, if I remember correctly, actually changed color and then offered 3 different  pre-set amount "buttons" that you could click on at the last few seconds.   But I do like your philosophy about picking your final amount and being at ease about the outcome if you lose!   

[2015newday]

Wow!  Wow!  Wow!

What a wonderfully detailed explanation!!!!

I love learning new things and I appreciate the time that it must have taken to write that all down in a way that I ( as a technologically challenged individual!) can understand....or, at least, start to understand!  It is truly appreciated and I will be reading (and re-reading!) this numerous times!  

I also appreciate the philosophy offered by another member and yourself:  Pick your maximum  amount and learn to live with the results.    

Again, thank you for all of the information, your advice and your time!

You could not have known it when you wrote your message but I love details and you really delivered!

[lacemaker3]

@2015newday,

Just type your bid in, on the line where it says $0 (highlighted) in the screenshot. Your cursor should automatically be there, so after you click on Place Bid, you should be able to just start typing.

There's no need to use any of the 3 one-click-bid buttons below the line, and it's not recommended because those bids are too predictable.

When you type your own bid, you can add some cents to your bid, as a tiebreaker. That way, if someone places a bid that is the same as your dollar amount, you would (hopefully) win because you added more cents to your bid.

[mudshark61369]

@2015newday,

As the Gnome explained there are variables that can affect the countdown clock's accuracy.  One thing you can try to do that might help you is to place one early bid for one increment on an item. Make note of what the clock says when you place the bid, (I try when the clock is just about to get to a minute)  Then look at the bid history to see when it was actually received by ebay's time stamp.  I've found with my connection and computer that I have to place a bid with 5 seconds left in order to get a last second bid in. 

If you keep an auction open well before it ends, refresh the auction page with 2-3 minutes left sometimes it does help.

[mudshark61369]

@2015newday,

One more thing to keep in mind.  It is not the last bid that wins but the highest one. If you do as others have suggested and bid your absolute highest price with a few odd cents added, and get outbid.  You should have no regrets, because someone valued the item more than you. Bidding in the last seconds (sniping)  only means that others who would bid more will not have much of a chance to rebid, but it will not work if someone bid more than you earlier on.

[donsdetour]

Use to be a link to eBay time so you could set your computer time to it.

This is the most single factor of being able to enter a bid at the last moment.

It is also the main reason you fail at such. timing can and will be a problem using your systems for this.

Best bet is to go with the last few time units you do not have trouble with and enter what you are willing to pay for said item. Move on if you don't win:

Only links I can find now days to bay time are

https://ofr.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?EbayTime 

http://viv.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?EbayTime 

[2015newday]

Thank you for BOTH of your replies.  I appreciate your insights, advice and time.

[2015newday]

Thanks for the great advice!  I also appreciate your philosophy on losing.   I'm finding it very helpful.