Beware of Ebay's bidding window! (mod please move)

[Chop-Top]

I originally posted here because I thought the seller didn't something wrong (mod please move to correct sub-forum).

I just discovered this awful Ebay bidding design that caused me to lose an auction.

1. Enter a bid amount on an item and click Place Bid.
2. The pop-up window gives you two options Confirm Bid or Change Bid. If you hit Confirm bid, your bid is locked in.
3. Hit Change Bid.
4. Enter a higher bid amount and click Place Bid (this should lock your bid in since all you're doing is changing the bid.)
5. Instead Ebay gives you another popup that says "Confirm Bid". This is an extra an unnecessary step that lost the auction for me since I wasn't expecting another confirmation window. Once the popup window is open, you shouldn't have to double confirm a bid. Changing your bid in the pop-up window should be a last second change before the real bid is placed.

[eatbrie]

Report him to Ebay.

[erik1925]

Hey Ryan,

Im a little confused. I just looked at the auction page and it shows that the poster sold for a high bid of  $140.39.

So, in actuality, it didnt sell for that, because he canceled the auction?

Id be PO'd too, if that was the case.

thanks and good luck with getting some resolve from ebay, too.

Jeff

[Chop-Top]

Hey Ryan,

Im a little confused. I just looked at the auction page and it shows that the poster sold for a high bid of  $140.39.

So, in actuality, it didnt sell for that, because he canceled the auction?

Id be PO'd too, if that was the case.

thanks and good luck with getting some resolve from ebay, too.

Jeff

You corrected me. I think EBAY screwed me over. I checked the wining bidder name and it wasn't me. I entered a $500 bid with a good 5 seconds left and my bid didn't even register! Hasn't someone else had a similar Ebay glitch happen to them? I took extra precaution and even logged out and back into my account a few minutes before I bid. I guess I'll go erase this guy's info now. Crap.

Edit: I realized what the problem was. It's not an Ebay glitch, just awwwwwwful fucking design of the bid window. Do these steps:

1. Enter a bid amount on an item and click Place Bid.
2. The pop-up window gives you two options Confirm Bid or Change Bid. If you hit Confirm bid, your bid is locked in.
3. Hit Change Bid.
4. Enter a higher bid amount and click Place Bid (this should lock your bid in since all you're doing is changing the bid.)
5. Instead Ebay gives you another popup that says "Confirm Bid". This is an extra an unnecessary step that lost the auction for me since I wasn't expecting another confirmation window. Once the popup window is open, you shouldn't have to double confirm a bid. Changing your bid in the pop-up window should be a last second change before the real bid is placed.

[50s]

If you manually pressed confirm bid button in ebay just 5 seconds before auction close, then I'm not surprised ebay didn't register your bid as they more than likely didn't receive the bid in time - likely due to some slowness in the internet between you both. Try using a specialist sniping provider who likely have 49 backup computers scattered around the world to ensure your bid squeezes through in time.  

Ok, read your modified message above. Still, bidding through ebay in the last seconds is luck of the draw if ebay gets it in time.

[Chop-Top]

If you manually pressed confirm bid button in ebay just 5 seconds before auction close, then I'm not surprised ebay didn't register your bid as they more than likely didn't receive the bid in time - likely due to some slowness in the internet between you both. Try using a specialist snipping provider who likely have 49 backup computers scattered around the world to ensure your bid squeezes through in time.  

I didn't even HIT the last confirm button in the last step above because I wasn't expecting it. Had I known it was going to prompt me, I still had a few seconds left to hit it, but my eyes were watching the price since I thought my bid already registered. When I saw the price jump the moment I hit Place Bid, I thought that was my bid.

I agree about manual sniping. It was a gamble and I lost. But the good news is that I walked away with extra knowledge, and who knows if my bid would have won or not.

[raulleaf]

just snipe it next time... 99.9% fail proof

[Chop-Top]

just snipe it next time... 99.9% fail proof

I've never used a sniping service. Which service is recommended?

[CSM]

esnipe.com

[Chop-Top]

esnipe.com

Thanks. Are there any good ones that are completely free? Or is that wishful thinking on my part?

[jayn_j]

Thanks. Are there any good ones that are completely free? Or is that wishful thinking on my part?

There have been several free ones over the years.  I thought you were looking for one that actually works

[CSM]

There have been several free ones over the years.  I thought you were looking for one that actually works

 

[rdavey26]

I just had the same problem when bidding on something. That damn second window for confirming your bid is ridiculous. I would have won if it was not for that confirm your bid window. Damn EBAY

[jayn_j]

I just had the same problem when bidding on something. That damn second window for confirming your bid is ridiculous. I would have won if it was not for that confirm your bid window. Damn EBAY

Folks, if you are manually sniping, you don't start your snipe with 5 seconds left.  You do it all with a couple of minutes left in a second window and then hit the confirm bid button at the last few seconds.

1. Multiple windows are your friend.
2. Don't try to predict what the other guy is going to bid.  Your bid should be the max you are willing to pay.  In other words, if you do get outbid you walk away saying "look what that fool paid" and not "If I had only bid a bit more"

I lose lots of auctions, and many times I am the second highest bidder.  However, I don't know how high the winner was willing to go, so to me it didn't sell for just a buck over my max, it simply sold above my max.  Discipline, always discipline.

[Chop-Top]

Folks, if you are manually sniping, you don't start your snipe with 5 seconds left.  You do it all with a couple of minutes left in a second window and then hit the confirm bid button at the last few seconds.

1. Multiple windows are your friend.
2. Don't try to predict what the other guy is going to bid.  Your bid should be the max you are willing to pay.  In other words, if you do get outbid you walk away saying "look what that fool paid" and not "If I had only bid a bit more"

I lose lots of auctions, and many times I am the second highest bidder.  However, I don't know how high the winner was willing to go, so to me it didn't sell for just a buck over my max, it simply sold above my max.  Discipline, always discipline.

The point was that we didn't know about or expect the second confirmation window since it's anti-logical to be there in the first place. The relatively new bid window was designed either intentionally or accidentally FOR sniping. In the past you had two have two separate windows open just to see the countdown clock which was also made for sniping. Before that you had to have two windows open while constantly refreshing the page to see the time left.

[Chop-Top]

I just had the same problem when bidding on something. That damn second window for confirming your bid is ridiculous. I would have won if it was not for that confirm your bid window. Damn EBAY

I feel your pain brother. My bid was never even registered even though I bid way higher than the winning price because of the second window I never even clicked. I didn't even see there was a second window until after the auction was over, since my eyes were on the auction itself. The moral of the story is never change your bid in mid-stream. Either bid your max at first, or continue with your original bid and then bid again. Or don't snipe at all. I'm not taking my chances with that fucking gauntlet of windows again.

[jayn_j]

The point was that we didn't know about or expect the second confirmation window since it's anti-logical to be there in the first place. The relatively new bid window was designed either intentionally or accidentally FOR sniping. In the past you had two have two separate windows open just to see the countdown clock which was also made for sniping. Before that you had to have two windows open while constantly refreshing the page to see the time left.

OK, then I'll add a third rule:

3.  Don't try to get fancy until you understand the basic process.  There was nothing stopping you from making a lowball bid with a few hours left just to test how it all works.

[Chop-Top]

OK, then I'll add a third rule:

3.  Don't try to get fancy until you understand the basic process.  There was nothing stopping you from making a lowball bid with a few hours left just to test how it all works.

The second confirm window does not show up unless YOU CHANGE YOUR BID.

[jayn_j]

The second confirm window does not show up unless YOU CHANGE YOUR BID.

Chop, I understand that.  Let's say there is a poster out there that you are willing to pay $100 for.  You make a bid of say $10 early on in the auction just to plant a flag and understand the process.  2 hours before the auction closes, you note that the item is bid at $42, so you bid $44.  Most likely the other guy has a proxy higher than that, so the bid is not successful.  However, you note how the system works, and about confirmation.

Then when there is 2 minutes left, you open 2 windows.  One monitors the auction.  The second one, you prepare your snipe bid of $100.  With 30 seconds to go you submit and wait for the confirmation message.  With 5 seconds to go, you hit confirm.

Please note that you took the time to learn how the system worked and also put out an impression that the item wasn't worth more than $45 to you 2 hours earlier.  You now know that you will need to confirm the bid when you snipe, so you can actually perform 2 of the three steps a couple of minutes ahead of time and simply perform one button push a few seconds before the close.

Yes, I realize that you didn't understand the system.  However, all the auction sites have their own quirks and if you get messed over because you didn't take the time to learn the system, you really can't blame anyone but yourself.  Not trying to get on your case, and I probably annoyed a couple of members by giving such detailed instructions, so please don't bother to flame me.

[Chop-Top]

Chop, I understand that.  Let's say there is a poster out there that you are willing to pay $100 for.  You make a bid of say $10 early on in the auction just to plant a flag and understand the process.  2 hours before the auction closes, you note that the item is bid at $42, so you bid $44.  Most likely the other guy has a proxy higher than that, so the bid is not successful.  However, you note how the system works, and about confirmation.

Then when there is 2 minutes left, you open 2 windows.  One monitors the auction.  The second one, you prepare your snipe bid of $100.  With 30 seconds to go you submit and wait for the confirmation message.  With 5 seconds to go, you hit confirm.

Please note that you took the time to learn how the system worked and also put out an impression that the item wasn't worth more than $45 to you 2 hours earlier.  You now know that you will need to confirm the bid when you snipe, so you can actually perform 2 of the three steps a couple of minutes ahead of time and simply perform one button push a few seconds before the close.

Yes, I realize that you didn't understand the system.  However, all the auction sites have their own quirks and if you get messed over because you didn't take the time to learn the system, you really can't blame anyone but yourself.  Not trying to get on your case, and I probably annoyed a couple of members by giving such detailed instructions, so please don't bother to flame me.

Thanks for the advice, but doesn't the new bidding window obsolete the need for two open windows?

[kovacs01]

Thanks for the advice, but doesn't the new bidding window obsolete the need for two open windows?

Yes, but whether it is obsolete is irrelevant.  It is the system they use, and what anyone thinks of it matters very little.

[Chop-Top]

Yes, but whether it is obsolete is irrelevant.  It is the system they use, and what anyone thinks of it matters very little.

You didn't understand what I was saying. IN THE PAST, in order to snipe, you HAD to open two SEPARATE Ebay windows. One to see the time and one to enter the bid. The new bidding window (6 months old?) OBSOLETES THE NEED FOR TWO OPEN WINDOWS because it has the countdown clock included within the same screen that you bid with. What you are, I believe, referring to, is my other comment where I said the second confirmation window in this new window is REDUNDANT, which it is. So your comment is more appropriately applied to that portion of the conversation.

[raulleaf]

You guys sniping like this is a waste; just spend the $0.25 and have it done automatically!

[Ari]

esnipe used to have a certain amount free, so at least give it a go, they take paypal also, so its easy.

[rdavey26]

I used a snipe like you guys have recommended and I won. It was nice and easy. Thank you for the tip. I did not know these even existed lol. Shows how often I use the auctions lol.