A slight (minimal) problem with a min/max lead-time is that the user could select the range to vary by only 1 second, which would effectively eliminate any padding . . . . . GOOD IDEA!
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I also want you to let me know if I inadvertantly set a snipe during your weekly maintenance period as I do not want you to bid two hours early.
We're investigating several alternatives to ensure leadtimes remain as accurate as possible.
Even small changes could upset the delicate balance we've maintained between getting snipes in on time and winning and not in times. Especially during peak periods. In general the bidding system is not something we make changes to lightly. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The trick is making sure snipes remain within an acceptable limit, even during the peaks. Obviously the closer to your set time being best as long as the risk of missing the snipe is kept minimal. Believe me people that lose an item are a lot more upset than those with a snipe 5-10 seconds earlier than they'd have liked.
Missed snipes and early snipes are probably our 2 biggest issues, and it's a delicate balance keeping both sides happy.
How about 'warning' those whose auction ends at a probable peak time that there is the likelihood of an adjustment? It cannot be too hard to program that?!
The only problem there is the times change slightly each week. Generally it's from 11am-2am GMT -8. Thursday night/Friday morning.
However the person doing the database work actually moves the snipes just as the last step before taking the database offline so as to have as little impact as possible. Thus the times are variable to within about an hour in either direction. We also sometimes do the work on a Wednesday or a Friday instead based on other factors such as holidays or perhaps a failure in the maintenance the night before, etc.
In the past, as in very long ago, I was able to set my snipe time to 1 second. Now it seems that it defaults to 3 seconds all the time. Why is this not possible anymore?
