How does eBay bidding work?

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by johnmilton, Dec 6, 2021.

  1. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    On two occasions, I have been the high bidder when the clock ran down to zero. Then the lot is awarded to another bidder for more money with no warning. It is totally unfair and completely frustrating. Auctions are aggravating enough without this stuff.

    The auction clock means nothing.
     
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  3. Matthew Kruse

    Matthew Kruse Young Numismatist

    There are auction sniper websites where you place the max amount you want to bid and it will bid for you at the last second. That's what I understand from it at least.
     
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  4. mrweaseluv

    mrweaseluv Supporter! Supporter

    the clock means only "no more bids" automatic biding continues on until "resolved".
     
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  5. ddddd

    ddddd Member

    The time you see isn't always to the second of the actual.

    See this thread and I'll quote the relevant response:
    https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buyin...o-bid-still-snatched-away-DEVS/qaq-p/23687911

    "The countdown you see is not a real-time feed of bids coming into eBay's servers and the ebay clock counting down. Rather, it is a script that runs on your computer and calls for updates on the auction status about every 3 seconds. It uses the time remaining from those updates to start your own computer's clock counting down from the time the page loads or the last succesful update, and displays the "current price" and your status as of the last successful update.


    Meanwhile, on eBay's end, a bid coming in is timestamped before eBay does anything else with it. If it gets the timestamp before the end of the last second of the auction, it is a timely bid. Then the bid must be processed to see that it is a valid bid for that item (meets the currently calculated minimum bid amount, not subject to a seller block or over the Buyer Activity Limit or from an account with a bidding suspension, timestamped before the end of the auction) before it is handed over to the server that is calculating the status of the auction. This is usually all done in a fraction of a second, but sometimes can take a couple of seconds. Only after the status server calculates the new "current bid" and leader is that information available to be sent in response to an update request from your computer (and it takes some fraction of a second for your request to get to eBay's servers and another for it to get back, get loaded into RAM, and get displayed on your screen, and the script runs the clock down from when the new "time remaining" loads in RAM, which usually results in your countdown being slow because of the time lag).


    So, between the 3 second (at best, not all updates are succesful) gaps and the time to process a new bid, there is always at least a 1-4 second window at the end where the results of a new bid will NOT display on your countdown screen before YOUR clock reaches 0 and the script calls for a full refresh of the Item Page. At that time the results of the late bid usually come up (you are not seeing the actual bid, you are seeing the calculated "winning price" or "current bid"), but I always give it a few seconds and then manually refresh just to be sure before relying on the result as final (again, on a busy night it might take a few seconds to finish processing a bid).


    If you bid your TRUE maximum, it doesn't make any difference whether you saw the bid before your countdown ran out--if you had been able to react to it before the auction ended you wouldn't have reacted anyway, since you would not let yourself bid more than the MOST you would be willing to pay. If you did not bid your TRUE maximum and were unable to react, now you know why it is important to bid your true maximum REGARDLESS of what anyone else appears or doesn't appear to be bidding. Highest bid received (but not cancelled/retracted) before the auction ends win, but the price is set by the high bid of the SECOND highest bidder (again, as of what is received but not cancelled/retracted before the end)."
     
  6. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    I that’s the way it works, I’m out. When you willing to bid thousands of dollars and get treated that way, it’s not worth the effort.

    @ddddd, thank you for your explanation. That system is so complicated that I am not going to bother to understand it. I will stay off eBay and enjoy life.

    On other sites, you have a chance to bid at the end until all of the bids have received. EBay is obviously nothing but a game with counterfeit items and rotten service for their customers.
     
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2021
  7. Mac McDonald

    Mac McDonald Well-Known Member

    Well, it's all in what you're used to. I actually prefer the e-Bay system over the "time window" systems, where a new 10 or 15-minute time window regenerates each time there's another bid. Have seen some auctions continue for hours beyond the ending time...most aren't that long but it's not uncommon for 1-hour extentions and longer. As long as someone keeps entering a bid before each time window closes (runs out), a new time window opens for another 10 or 15 minutes. The eBay problem is allowing auto-bids...shouldn't do it in my opinion, should be human-generated bids only, but even then the system's time increments...down to the hundredth or less of a second...will likely be quicker than the eye on occasion. If an auction is scheduled to end at 6:30:45PM, it needs to end at 6:30:45PM, with the highest human-generated bid recorded before the end declared the winner and all bid times posted immediately.
     
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  8. wxcoin

    wxcoin Getting no respect since I was a baby

    I've been outbid at the last second countless times on eBay and realize that I'm at a disadvantage since I don't use any snipe type of software that will bid for me in the very last second. I like HiBid auctions in that regard, since in the last few minutes for an item, new bids will add more time, which I like.
     
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  9. cpm9ball

    cpm9ball CANNOT RE-MEMBER

    Do you remember Mark Hooten whose username was Hoot on the Collectors Society? He gave me my "schooling" on the advantage of using a sniping service back in 2005. It turned out that we were both bidding on the same item, but he was using Bidnapper. I thought I had won the item, but his bid posted with about one second left. The sniping service never posts a competing bid until it is practically too late for anyone to react.

    It's actually a good system because you don't have bidiots jacking up bids over and over again. When I started using it, I found that I was winning about 85% of the auctions at prices lower that what I expected.
     
  10. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    When I really want to "play for keeps" on an eBay auction, I've always used esnipe.com. Sniping software plus a strong bid is the best way to ensure a win, but it's still not a guaranteed success (unless, perhaps, you were to set your snipe for a truly insane maximum bid and nobody else did the same).
     
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  11. spirityoda

    spirityoda Coin Junky

    There is also a problem with some bad sellers shill bidding their own auctions up. If their price does not go as high as they want then they will bid it up. I have seen this done at least 3 times. Every time that happened I would never buy from that seller ever again. For the most part I have bid on at least 1,000+ times with no problems.
     
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  12. AdamL

    AdamL Well-Known Member

    I've heard of sniping but never known what it was. How is this different from just placing your true max bid or placing your max bid in the last minute?
     
  13. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    A manual snipe can be accomplished by manually entering your bid in the last second or two. I prefer letting the software do that automatically. You can set your snipe and walk away, not having to sit and watch the auction at an inconvenient time.
     
  14. AdamL

    AdamL Well-Known Member

    I understand. Thanks.
     
  15. Vertigo

    Vertigo Did someone say bust?

    You wait until the counter is 5-4-3-2 and when 2 changes to 1 you drop whatever you are willing to pay. You might be winning it at 100.00 if price guide is 200.00 don't think someone won't be there at the end. You have to be ready to drop the most you are willing to pay too if you want it. I never think I've won. I always am there at the end to drop 200 on a current 100 even if I'm the current highest bidder. Because I know there's someone out there waiting just like me to do the same thing.
     
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  16. Vertigo

    Vertigo Did someone say bust?

    You are there getting the rush of the win not the software program. Say you set your bid at 100 on the program and walk away. Say 2 minutes before the end the bid goes over. Your program can't bid higher. Only you can. Like say you change your mind and want to go higher. The program can't do that for you.
     
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  17. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    I know about that. When I was a dealer, other dealers asked me to place bids on their eBay lots. “If you win, don’t have to buy it,” was the line they gave me. I declined to participate in that.

    The message is clear. Ignore eBay if you want to enjoy the hobby.
     
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  18. baseball21

    baseball21 Well-Known Member

    There's not really, the snipe might be a little more last second but either way you're going to be the higher bidder or you wont. The two major advantages are that you can set the snipe so you dont have to worry about sitting there watching the auctions and you can do multiple listings that would be impossible to get to by hand in such a quick amount of time.

    People just like to complain about everything anytime they dont win something they want for the price they want
     
  19. baseball21

    baseball21 Well-Known Member

    Just set it at your max and itll either win or it wont.
     
  20. Joshua Lemons

    Joshua Lemons Well-Known Member Supporter

    Yep, I tend to set my max bid and let the universe settle it! I have found though that I get better deals on BIN listings that have been in sellers stores a while. Also, many will offer discounts on multiple purchases. I have several times found a couple coins and added a third just to receive a 20% discount. Usually makes that extra coin anywhere from $2-$5 bucks after the discount. Why not, since I was already interested in the other two?
     
  21. wxcoin

    wxcoin Getting no respect since I was a baby

    I guess the bottom line either way is figure out your maximum and bid that. If it goes over that, either by a manual last second bid or otherwise, you set your limit. In most instances, it just comes down to a bidder wanting to get a coin under what they are willing to spend, ignoring the fact that another bidder is willing to spend more.
     
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