AUCTION CLOCKS

[trr0008]

EBAY has been running two auction clocks...when one runs out 1-12 seconds is added to second clock. This gives other bidders a chance to up the bid and disables "sniping"...thus inflating the price of items sold and Ebays already engorged wallet!

[alcoforever]

I think you are seriously mistaken.

[eburtonlab]

Some general bidding information:

Bidding ends a set number of days after the auction started down to the exact second. Bids are accepted so long as a bid for a valid amount is received by eBay's server before the auction ends, even if those bids are not displayed on individual bidders' pages around the world until a few seconds later.

eBay does not extend bidding. Once you have bid your maximum, bid extensions can not help you, only hurt you.

For some unknown reason eBay no longer displays the ending time to the second at the top of the bid history page, but if there are any bids you should be able to calculate the actual ending time by examining the starting time of the auction at the bottom of the page. Auctions always begin and end at the same time down to the exact second, unless the auction is ended early by the seller. All bidders have the same time to place valid bids, and no one gets any extra time. eBay time stamps every bid as it is received by eBay, and the times are displayed to the second in the bid history if you use a desktop browser.

If you think you have encountered an auction where a bid was accepted after the end of the auction, examine the starting time closely and compare it to the time the bid was received and you should find that the bid was received before the auction actually ended. If not, please post an item number so that others can see it.

If you bid the maximum amount you are willing to pay (taking into account any shipping or taxes) then the only way you can lose is if someone is willing to bid more than you were and actually does so, or if someone bid the same exact amount, earlier.

No one can count on having the last bid, and bidders should assume that other bids will be placed at the end of the auction too late to be reacted to, and set their bids accordingly.

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

You can check your computer's clock here:

https://time.is/

[trr0008]

My experience when trying to place a bid, as i have been doing for years, at the 3 second mark, another 10-12 seconds gets added. In the past, I would place a bid a 3 seconds, it would take 1-2 seconds to process, and then time would run out. Now, another clock suddenly appears with 10-12 seconds left?? My computer is not off by 10-12 seconds. Something has changed somewhere?

[eburtonlab]

My computer is not off by 10-12 seconds.

How far off is your computer, then?

Have you checked?

https://time.is/

[trr0008]

Yes Thank you for tat ...my computer is off by slightly more than 1 second.

[trr0008]

My computer is ahead by 1.4 seconds...?

[eburtonlab]

My computer is ahead by 1.4 seconds...?

If you were to watch an auction countdown right now, when your computer's countdown reached zero there would still be 1.4 seconds or so left on the auction, though you would not be able to bid.

The next time you want to place a bid, synchronize your computer's clock and check the time again just before end of the auction.

[coello1792]

You are absolutely right, exactly the same thing just happened to me and I have already lost about 2 or 3 auctions because a new countdown appears after the original count has already reached zero. I think it's a dirty trick by eBay so that we don't auction things close to the base value and gives other people the opportunity to raise the offer in the second countdown. It's a shame that eBay implemented this trick

[kh-cathy]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.