Reset Timer on Auction

[micbro-brknjzh]

I guess nobody bids on anything on eBay anymore. Everybody seems to want to wait until the last three seconds. eBay needs to do away with that and start a five minute rule like other auction sites do.. Its  really unfair for sellers as well as buyers when buyers do that. Since I’m unable to find a actual link so I can make suggestions I’m hoping at least somebody from eBay staff may see this and forward it to somebody who can do changes that actually helps both buyers and sellers.  I’ve actually lost items I needed because somebody outbid me in the last second after being the only bidder for days. It’s time for a change eBay. 

[deltilogical]

You have to put in your absolute best bid if you really want it.     One bidding tactic is to wait towards the end hoping people are asleep or not paying attention...originally it was just people lurking over the counter but then software programs were developed to do the sniping to the microsecond.  I can't compete against the program, if it really bothered me I could just get a sniping program and participate and WIN!

[krazzykats]

What is so darn important that you are upset over being outbid? 

In a live auction, it may start slow then once another person bids, another interested person bids, and so on. 

The highest and last bid wins when the gavel comes down and the auctioneer says sold. 

[gurlcat]

I'm really shocked how few people know about sniper bots, in 2023!  And I'm the least tech-savvy person ever.  The one I use is FREE (well, 5 free snipes per month), $5.99 for unlimited monthly snipes, which I find absolutely worth it, considering how many awesome items the bot snatches for me in the final 5 seconds (8 seconds if you use the free version). 

[jarjoh5532]

Then why doesn't ebay show what the max bid is?

It's NOT that someone makes a higher bid days earlier. They literally wait until the last second to post their nominally increased bid. You sound like the ultimate coper for the horrible systems in place at ebay.

Also, how stupid do you have to be to think anyone's going to post their max amount on the first bid.... are you completely unfamiliar with the idea of an auction? And how bidding actually works in real life?

[maxine*j]

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@jarjoh5532 wrote:

... how stupid do you have to be to think anyone's going to post their max amount on the first bid.... are you completely unfamiliar with the idea of an auction? And how bidding actually works in real life?

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eBay auctions are a type of sealed bid auctions, and the bidding here "actually works on eBay just as it does in real life" with sealed bid auctions. 

From the moment the auction opens to within a few seconds of its closing, anyone may place a bid.  When the sealed envelopes are opened in "real life" or virtually on eBay, the winner is the person who placed the highest bid in his envelope.

When I was an active seller on eBay, I found some of my inventory on eBay.  I placed bids at the start of auctions with no qualms.  I knew the maximum I would pay, including the  handling and shipping charges, and bid that amount.  I did not have the time or the desire to hang around the computer for the purpose of waiting to bid.  When mine was the highest bid, great.  When not, I shrugged and waited for other opportunities. 

Now if you want to talk stupid, stupid  is nibble bidding and bidding reactively.  That's a mug's game.

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[soh.maryl]

Every single bidder on eBay on any auction has exactly the same amount of time to bid on any auction.

[reallynicestamps]

Auctions basically don't work.

Buyers don't like auctions.

Your experience losing to a snipe bid shows why.

Auctions go to the highest bidder, not the last bidder.

Have you noticed that of your last 12 auctions, only four got more than one bid and three of those had only two bidders.?

You've been here for eight years, you should have an idea of the market value of your products.

Switch to Fixed Price.

Allow your customers up to 30 days to find your offerings.

Never have an empty store, because any unsold items will automatically relist with no cost or effort on your part.

The more items you have listed the more likely someone will find you, and even if they don't buy the thing they found, they may learn you have something they don't want to live without.

As a buyer, if you personally like Auctions, bid only once, but bid your maximum.

You were outbid because the sniper bid more than you, not because they bid later than you.

Extending the auction would not change that.

Bid once.

Bid your maximum.

Bid late.

And if someone else outbids you, they were suckers who paid too much.

[mikeystoyz]

Auction sniper is your friend

[mikeystoyz]

Auction sniper is your friend. Lol

[doc-holmes · Accepted solution]

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@jarjoh5532 wrote:

Then why doesn't ebay show what the max bid is?

It's NOT that someone makes a higher bid days earlier. They literally wait until the last second to post their nominally increased bid. You sound like the ultimate coper for the horrible systems in place at ebay.

Also, how stupid do you have to be to think anyone's going to post their max amount on the first bid.... are you completely unfamiliar with the idea of an auction? And how bidding actually works in real life?

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Just because you don't like it, it doesn't mean it's bad. The vast majority prefer it the way it is. 

[gurlcat]

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@mikeystoyz wrote:

Auction sniper is your friend. Lol

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Oh baby I KNOW it is, lol!  But I'm a bit nervous about eBay doing this beta-testing on requiring a bank/card number before bidding.  Have you heard about that?  I don't know if (or how) a sniper bot could work with that.   Maybe I would just have to place a bid earlier in the auction, enter the card number then, and hope my snipe works, since it's still bidding on behalf of my same eBay account.  

[a_c_green]

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@gurlcat wrote:

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@mikeystoyz wrote:

Auction sniper is your friend. Lol

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Oh baby I KNOW it is, lol!  But I'm a bit nervous about eBay doing this beta-testing on requiring a bank/card number before bidding.  Have you heard about that?  

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Yes, sellers now have a checkbox option for whether to require the bidder's payment info (if the bidder is a member of that test group), or just allow their bidding as-is. There is a second option for requiring the same info when someone makes an offer.

My buying account has been put into the Make Offer test group, which requires submitting your payment info before submitting an offer. That's fine with me; all it really asks if whether you want to use your previously stored payment info, or switch to a different payment method this time, so that's just a one-click delay in a transaction that isn't very time-sensitive anyway. You're still waiting on the seller to accept, after all.

However, my buying account is apparently not in a Bidding test group, because I've been regularly and routinely sniping auctions for ages, and I have never been asked for payment info before slamming in a bid four seconds from the end. 

Getting delayed in an auction snipe would be disastrous, both for me 😁 and for the seller who won't see my last-second bid to push the price higher. I don't know how that's being implemented yet (if in fact it is), but the only place I could see shoe-horning it into the current bid process would be as soon as the bidder hits the initial Bid button to plug in his bid. I generally do that at least 20-30 seconds in advance of my bid anyway, so that I can key in my bid, and then watch the timer count down for a short while before mashing the Submit button at the very end.

That 20-30 seconds of lead time would be long enough for me to confirm my payment info if necessary; it just needs to happen before I actually hit the Submit button, not after.

[soh.maryl]

Hey, I LOVE auctions! But then again, I never buy anything on eBay that I have to have in a big hurry.

I know better.  

[reallynicestamps]

@a_c_green However, my buying account is apparently not in a Bidding test group, because I've been regularly and routinely sniping auctions for ages, and I have never been asked for payment info before slamming in a bid four seconds from the end. 

I don't like the idea of pre-qualifying buyers.

And not just as an eBay seller, but as part owner of an online /public auction for many years.  We never ask for payment information before the auction. Period.
It is a handshake business, but even so, we have not had more than a handful of problems with that policy in over 30 years.

I had not thought of the snipe bidder, whether manual or electronic.

Most auctioneers love snipers who, whether they win or not, raise winning bids considerably.

This is a serious problem for eBay, because with lower winning prices, they get less in fees.

@soh.maryl 
Auctions are a great way to buy underpriced goods. Bargains galore when we are the only bidder.