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

[platform29]

This issue is still going on, we've done all the checks, changed browsers multiple times and it still exists for me and I suspect multitudes of others as well.

BUT, it is working as we would expect for those who can go to the last second...  so HOW!!

What do we need to do, adjust, change, re-train ourselves not to have this continual frustration?

[eburtonlab]

In order for the auction countdown to work correctly, your device's time has to be synchronized to an internet time server. What that involves depends upon your specific operating system.

You can check to see if your time is fast or slow here:

https://time.is/

[platform29]

so if I have to tabs open on the same browser they are allowed to be at different seconds to the end times???!!!  By 15 seconds?

How does that happen?

[eburtonlab]

The countdown you see on a listing page or a bid entry form is not coming from eBay -- it is a routine running on your own computer that gets an occasional update from eBay. Multiple pages open means multiple routines running. How accurate each one is depends on many factors including how many other things your computer is doing, network conditions, how many resources are being used at the same time, and also whether your computer's clock is set correctly and synchronized.

Countdowns on different pages might agree much more consistently if you have lots of free resources and not much else is going on, but might not agree if your computer is also installing a large update in the background, you are editing a video, or scanning your drive at the same time.

[platform29]

so why do times remaining jump between +/- 15 seconds in the same 'confirm bid' tab and the same behaviors happen between bid pop-ups and listing screens - including when using the submit bid button?

it is not logical to have conflicting behaviors from one app at one time.

[eburtonlab]

so why do times remaining jump between +/- 15 seconds in the same 'confirm bid' tab and the same behaviors happen between bid pop-ups and listing screens

That might be an indication that your computer's time is off by 15 seconds or so, or it might indicate your computer is doing too many things at once to update everything in a timely fashion.

[lacemaker3]

As @eburtonlab said, the countdown is a script that runs in your browser tab/window. It doesn't run on the app. So yes, each tab/window would be independent of the others.

I don't know why the script should depend on the device's system clock, or why the synchronization would affect the countdown. But we know that it does, because you can turn the synchronization problem on and off by changing the time or date on your system clock, or even by just turning off the automatic synchronization, even if the time is still accurate.

In my experience, the only time I have observed the countdown being out of synchronization was when I temporarily changed the date on my system clock for a short time (had to disable the automatic synchronization to do that). The date was off for only about half an hour, so there wasn't time for the time setting to drift very far out of sync (probably less than a second), but the countdown was unreliable as long as the automatic synchronization for my system clock was disabled. When I enabled the automatic time synchronization again, the countdown worked fine.

[stainlessenginecovers]

Just bid the most you are willing to pay. Even if the 'time' were the exact same, there will always be someone else that bids the exact same time as you with a higher amount. They win. You lose.