countdown timer malfunction

[coolstuff115]

with about 30 seconds left in the auction, I click on the "Place Bid" button... the bid window pops-up and the timer is as much as 8 seconds ahead of the timer on the auction page.  I'll (supposedly) watch the auction end with me as the high bidder.  Then a few seconds later, the bid changes and when the auction ends for a second time, I'm no longer have the highest bid.  This happens on 3 different computers, operating systems, and browsers.  This is constant - sometimes the time difference is 5 or 6 seconds, but never closer than that.  Is this eBay's way to punnish sniping?

[eburtonlab]

There is no reason for eBay to punish or discourage any qualified bids, and eBay explicitly permits sniping.

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/bidding/bid-sniping?id=4224

When qualified bids are not able to be made for any reason, eBay makes less money.

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.

Check your computer's time here:

https://time.is/

Differences between your computer's time or time zone can cause issues at the end of an auction with the countdown display, and can make it hard to place a late bid.

[coolstuff115]

My computer's time zone is off???  That's the most ludicrous response I could have imagined.  Ok, "visionary", explain the latest situation: the counter sometimes counts up instead of down.  Let me guess: you think it's because my monitor isn't level.  Oh wait, you think it's because my computer is facing north and not south.  What's more ridiculous than your comment is that two people found it helpful.

[eburtonlab]

A problem with the time zone setting can lead to the time shown in the search results being off by a number of hours. This is not your issue, however.

Your problem sounds more like an issue where your computer's time is off by eight seconds, which can lead to problems bidding in the last eight seconds regardless of whether your computer's time is fast or slow.

This can be resolved by synchronizing your computer's time with an online time server.

[sacrux]

Oddly it seems that's the case. I was confused at the reply, but I looked at a few listings under "Time: ending soonest" and set my time back by 1minute and it was screwing up the listings end time. I opened a new tab when I set my time back by 1minute and had different results from the old. I also opened a bunch of random tabs and noticed the time countdown would lag behind and skip ahead on some listings and not on others (I guess due to memory issues with my browser/PC).

I set my time back by 1 year and forward by 1 year and it didn't end any listings. I then set my time back by 3minutes and I got a website issue where it wouldn't load the page correctly.

So I don't really know what the hell is going on. I do know that I notice lag real bad with the timer going out of sync when I have an open listing where there's a countdown and I'm trying to monitor bids on it. I sometimes will refresh and notice that the countdown will skip ahead X number of seconds to the current countdown time. That happens when I keep that tab open and go browse other items or other websites and come back to that listing after some time has passed.

[a_c_green]

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@sacrux wrote:

Oddly it seems that's the case. I was confused at the reply, but I looked at a few listings under "Time: ending soonest" and set my time back by 1minute and it was screwing up the listings end time.

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You're homing in on the solution here. What's happening is that eBay bases some of the listing countdown function on your own computer's time setting, relative to the end of the listing. Thus if the auction is going to end at 12:00:15 according to the eBay listing, and your computer's clock thinks that it's currently 12:00:08, it will show you that there are 7 seconds left.

But the accuracy of that depends on your computer knowing what time it is... literally. Thus you want to be sure that your computer is checking regularly with an Internet time source. If you are on a Windows box, right-click on the time in the lower right corner and select the "Adjust date/time" option. That will bring up the Date and Time Setting screen: 

Set Date and Time (Windows 10)

Check that you have Set Time Automatically activated, and also that you have your correct time zone showing. Click the Synch now button to get an immediate correction going forward. That should fix it.

[lacemaker3]

A few more points that I have observed about this issue:

• even if your system time and date are accurate within a fraction of a second, the countdown script can still be wonky if the "set time automatically" is not on. I have seen the countdown get out of sync by 30 seconds or more, when the setting was off for maybe 15 to 30 minutes. This was with MS Windows 11.
  
  
• in my experience, as long as "Set time automatically" is on, the countdown clock works perfectly with MS Windows 11. This is with cable internet (hardwired to the house, and wifi inside the house) and with an on-campus wifi system (so no issues with 5G speed or availability).
  
  
• However, when my work computer had MS Windows 10, the "set time automatically" did not work and my system clock was always getting out of sync. So this function works differently in older browsers, and that can have an affect. If I recall correctly, the eBay countdown worked OK though. I don't remember noticing any issues with it. I did keep my system clock close to accurate so I would not be late to meetings.

I can't speak to any countdown issues using the phone app, because I don't use it. Others have suggested that 5G/wifi connection issues could be a factor. The much-smaller amount of memory available to run any app compared to a computer could also be a factor.

[a_c_green]

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@lacemaker3 wrote:

I can't speak to any countdown issues using the phone app, because I don't use it. Others have suggested that 5G/wifi connection issues could be a factor. The much-smaller amount of memory available to run any app compared to a computer could also be a factor.

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I should add here that my Windoze 10 box is using Chrome for a browser.

Another factor that could affect the countdown accuracy is if the box is trying to do too much multitasking at the same time. That'll produce a herky-jerky countdown, with the countdown seconds slowing occasionally and then jumping to catch up again. If you're seeing that, kill off as many other windows or processes as you can while the countdown clock is running.

That aside, I generally slam in my snipe bid with 4 or 5 seconds to go, a cushion that's just enough to allow for some possible remaining second or two of disagreement in timing, but without giving my opponents long enough to counterbid after I get my price in.

[2002kings]

This happened to me. There was a few minutes left in the auction, I bid and became the highest bidder.  Then it said the auction ended with me being the highest bidder but didn't say i won.  Kept refreshing page and said the same thing.  Then just like that the item ended and someone outbid me with no notification of other bids. Ebay's timer is screwed up ! And it kept me from winning auctions. They clearly don't know what they are doing. I never had these problems in the past. 

[eburtonlab]

If your computer's clock is ahead or behind of the official time, this can cause problems for you when bidding at the end of an auction.

So you should make sure your clock is synchronized, and check that synchronization here:

https://time.is/

My computer's clock is synchronized and updates about once per day. At the moment my clock is behind by about one second. I have no problems submitting a bid with about ten seconds remaining in an auction, which is close enough for me.

But even if your clock is exactly synchronized, it is still always possible that someone else will outbid you close enough to the end of the auction that you will not have any notice or any opportunity to bid again. That is why it is critical that you submit your maximum bid before the auction ends. There is no need to wait until you are outbid to raise your bid -- just bid your maximum as late in the auction as you comfortably can without waiting so long that you risk missing the end of the auction, which for me is about ten seconds before the auction ends.

[2002kings]

It's not that I'm bidding late, The timer system is off and I'm not the only one to have this issue. The timer will count down and i will bid, I'll be winning to the count is zero. I keep refreshing at its the same. I go on my phone and the auction is still active, I bid again on my phone. And because of the disarray of this timmer problem i lose again. It's not just my PC, It's the same on my phone too. It adds time on a listing when i bid even though it already counted down. 

I've Been a Ebay member for over two decades. I've never had these problems before.  

[lacemaker3]

This issue is well known.

The countdown is a script that is downloaded to your browser with the listing page. It interacts with your system clock, and if your system clock is not accurate, then the countdown timer is unpredictable. In my experience, I have to have my system clock set to automatically update the date and time. If I turn this off, then the eBay countdown doesn't work. As long as this is turned on, the countdown timer is 100% accurate.

In Windows, right-click on the clock in the bottom right corner to open your clock settings:

[eburtonlab]

If bidding at the end of the auction matters to you, make sure your computer's clock is synchronized automatically. Then you do not have to worry about it ever again.

If you are bidding more than once, that means you are not bidding your maximum. There is no need to wait until you are outbid; just bid your maximum the first time.

Bid your maximum before the auction ends, and the only way you can lose is if someone is willing to bid more than your maximum.

[kh-shakhib]

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.