why did AS put my snipe in 27 seconds before the end instead of the 3 as submitted?

Thanks, but I don't need support, I just want an explanation....the only reason someone would need support in an instance like this is if the issue is systemic....so far, I cannot verify that, but I did look at my past snipes that lost and even though I never touch the default 3 second lead time, the last handful I looked at were 7 seconds....so it seems there is a lead time for the lead time.....support cannot fix what has been fudged already....the auction is already over and my prize is gone....

(from AS email when sniping)

Status Summary: High Bidder
Your snipe did not win because of the reason above

Best ask Support as the users you are talking to have no control of when AS submits snipes at busy times to ensure they arrive in time (oops -did I give it away).

Read the forums - the answer is tucked away in there somewhere...

R2

This question DOES come up Frequently enough to be in the FAQ’s.

There’s this in the FAQ’s:
http://www.auctionsniper.com/faqbasics.aspx#faq_16a_lbl
But that’s pretty vague.

There’s also this:
http://www.auctionsniper.com/faqbasics.aspx#faq_13a_lbl
In that link there’s this statement: “Although we send the snipe on time, during peak times an eBay server may not process it in time.” “On time”? Not the case. The snipe CAN be sent in very, very early. There’s also this statement: “These servers adjust for eBay server lag according to how long their average server is taking.” True, but they can, and do, “adjust” too much.

If I were a suspicious person I might conclude that the vague, or perhaps even misleading, statements about premature snipe placement is motivated by marketing reasons. It might be the belief at AS: “Better not to bring it to anyone’s attention. After all, not that many people ever get to the forum, and those that do, don’t seem to find ALL those other posts referring to the same problem.”

Perhaps it’s not clearly mentioned in the FAQ’s because of a higher visibility – assuming most people actually read the FAQ’s. So, if the poor showing of this issue in the FAQ’s is caused by the marketing department, versus the FAQ department, then perhaps some mention that snipes may be placed 1 minute early could be stated here: http://www.auctionsniper.com/risks.aspx.

Sure glad I'm not a suspicious person.

Wait!  There's someone following me!

sounds like what I am reading is saying that AS is not what it is advertised as....

I don't know how long I have been using AS, but this is the first time (that I have noticed) that this has been so blatently obvious...

Up until this point, I was working off the impression that AS was exactly what it was and the fact that as far as I knew, every single snipe I put in I either won or lost and if lost, the only reason was because I was in fact not the highest bidder before the end of the auction...now this happens.......there is nothing different with what happened in this auction and me just putting my bid in manually....

you give other viewers of the auction time to see your bid, you give them time to bid also....hence the supposed benefit of bidding at the end....

what really irks me about this is this auction was something I was really sweating...something I have been after for YEARS.....it could have been anything else, anything....but it had to happen on this...

this is kind of like finding out someone you have trusted for years, lied to you....would you ever, ever, ever trust anything they told you from that point on? be honest.....

“Lied” is harsh. More like, “What you don’t know, or what doesn’t happen to you, can’t hurt you.” But, it would be nice if AS did a better job of communicating/disclosing that “potential” issue. Although, it IS well documented, documented, documented, documented . . . in this forum.

Please post link to auction.

Never use AS for a must-have item - it is a machine (kinda!) so fallible... That advice is on the forums too!

R2

quote:

sounds like what I am reading is saying that AS is not what it is advertised as....

USUALLY it is just as advertised, but SOMETIMES it's not!

quote:

.......there is nothing different with what happened in this auction and me just putting my bid in manually.....

...Presuming, of course, that you could have been at your computer at the auction end time. If that was the case AND it was a must-have item, most users on this forum would recommend NOT using AS -- just place your bids manually. Sorry you missed your item. How many bids came in after yours? Are you sure they were responding to your bid and would not have been placed regardless?

hmm....I wonder why my last post was deleted?

all I can say is something has changed recently with auction sniper, and it is not for the better....at best, AS is at best now a lucky draw at a shot in the dark to shoot a fish in a barrel with a water balloon, while blindfolded.....

I would disagree. We've made improvements and added servers and snipes are now as close to the lead time of the customer as has they have ever been. Quite a bit actually and this I believe is demonstrated by the fact there are virtually no threads here about that as there had been in the past.

We continue to measure eBay's response time and adjust to make sure snipes are on time. To that end we are now missing fewer than ever and at the same time maintaining the lower lead times at peaks. That's improvement on both.

I'm sorry your snipe was early.

quote:

hmm....I wonder why my last post was deleted?

Let's guess - AS seems to work for 99.9% of people (me included). We all know that it is fallible and shouldn't be used for 'must haves'. So to continue to rant and rave solves nothing and, if too extreme, I guess AS deletes stuff from its own forums.

So, work within its limitations and have a nice day!

R2

kimmothy,

You never posted a link to the auction. Must I ask you a second time?

What makes you think I ever HAD "it"?


Looks like the winning sniper had time to respond to kimmothy's early snipe.

A manual sniper bid with around 3 minutes. Then rebid with 8 seconds left. One can then decide the bid was either reactionary to the 27 second bid, or already planned and would have been placed regardless.

here is another that just went off...

again, from the email I receive from AS:

Status Summary: High Bidder
Your snipe did not win because of the reason above

ok, there is nothing wrong, I am making stuff up....

I guess the bright side, the person that beat me out of this last auction is a friend of mine, so, I will find out what he is using and try that service since it seems that no matter what lead time I put it on AS, it has a mind of it's own and bids as it sees fit...

I guess I have to come to the realization that if a service cannot provide what it states it can, I should not continue to expect that service TO perform as it states it will.

let the excuses fly....boils down to this...as used to be the shiznit for me to win auctions...over the past several months, it's only functionality to me seems to be as a huge watch list...

I am going to do my own test....I now have the other sniping tool, I am going to let as and it fight it out...head to head...we'll see what happens....

I got a chuckle for a second when I glanced at the as homepage:

Features

No Download Required!

Place your bid exactly when you want … seconds before the auction closes!

so....