The bid question

[barely_tan_gerbil]

Good evening! 

Apparently a bid that rolls in one second after auction endtime is counted?  There must be a good reason, but it makes me uncomfortable somehow lol.  Can anybody explain it for me, in simpletonese, please?

I want to know how a bid that comes in after an auction ended is still counted?  What's the cutoff point, if not the endtime that's posted? 

Thank you for helping me wrap my head around it.

[az93]

I have now found a better website called correct time.is. I prefer it because it has seconds, and tells you if your phone time is accurate.

[aproudparent2010]

---

@bashort wrote:

It sure looks to me like there was a bid 1 second after it should of closed

---

Look at start time:

13 Feb 2025 at 6:05:01pm PST

Exactly 10 days to the second just like it should have been

[a_c_green]

---

@luckythewinner wrote:

---

@barely_tan_gerbil wrote:

Thank you for helping me wrap my head around it.

---

The only time that matters is the time on the server at eBay that accepted the bid. Not every computer in the world is synchronized to that eBay server.

---

On a related note, the countdown to zero that you see on your computer is not generated directly by eBay, but is the difference between the exact ending time (from eBay) and what your computer itself thinks is the exact current time. Thus, if you're planning to slam in a snipe bid 5 seconds from the end, but your computer's clock is running 10 seconds slow, you'll find that the auction ended shortly before you hit your Bid button.

My Windows 10 box here resynchronizes itself with its time server (time.windows.com) once a day, but before I had that set up to occur automatically, I got burned with a missed deadline... just a few seconds off, but it made all the difference. 😣

[house*of*paws]

---

@barely_tan_gerbil wrote:

You're right, my screen isn't showing me the endtime with seconds.  If that's why it looks like that, then that's reassuring at least!  No slippages!  I kind of thought maybe there might be a built in margin on the timer, but I prefer it's just my display, somehow not showing the seconds..

Is there a switch I can toggle on, to make it show the seconds for the endtime too?  It's showing seconds on the time of the bids, but not for the auction endtime. 

Ps, I use my Android phone

---

@barely_tan_gerbil 

You’ve been told already … but I’m not sure if you were tagged by the responders.

If the auction has at least one bid on it … the best place to see the complete End Time is to look at the Start Time.  They are exactly the same.

[Apropos of nothing … I believe that not showing ‘seconds’ in the End time is one of the inexplicably dumbest decisions eBay has ever made.  I’d love to know their reasoning for doing that.]

[nobody*s_perfect · Accepted solution]

---

@bashort wrote:

It sure looks to me like there was a bid 1 second after it should of closed

---

A listing that shows an end time of 6:05 could end at any time before 6:06 -- i.e., from 6:05:00 to 6:05:59.   Every auction ends at the exact same time as it began, including the seconds (unless of course the seller chooses to end it earlier).

As noted elsewhere in this thread, you can see the exact end time including the seconds if you scroll down to the bottom of the bid history to see the start time, which DOES show the seconds. 

[inhawaii]

I'm not sure which post I like better, this one or "when does my 5-day auction end?"    😉

[chariot_badges]

Well, it appears to ME that the error here lies with the bidder.

Much like:  most auto accidents are not the fault of the car.  

As a different strategy what I would have done is bid $250 about ten seconds before the end.

[barely_tan_gerbil]

Hi luckythewinner,

I won the auction, I was highest bidder.

I was just curious about what I thought was a too-late bid, thinking it had somehow bumped the final amount I paid.

But it didn't, apparently.  I think it was explained to me it's that the auction end time must have included one or more seconds that my screen wasn't displaying for me.  This had led me to think I'd gotten bumped up by another bidding increment, but I'm happy to know the end time was not in conflict with the bid in question.  I think that was the consensus here?    I just came back tonight to glean any more advice on how to set my device to show the actual end time...

Can anyone screenshot or just tell me what the actual end time was for my auction?  Or tell me how to see it myself in future auctions, so I time my bids better?

Thanks!

[barely_tan_gerbil]

Hello house*of*paws,

Thank you!

[barely_tan_gerbil]

Hello nobody*s_perfect,

That answer helps me, thank you!