As promised in a previous post, here are the results of the AS support ticket I filed:
MY POST-
I placed a high bid to launch through AS and it failed to go through. No reason was given apart from "Transaction Blocked". It was not part of a bid group, I had no previous dealings with this seller, and I have no negative or neutral feedback. I‘ve been ebaying and sniping for over two years so I‘m not exactly a novice.
Here is some more pertinent information-
Auction Sniper Snipe Status Report
eBay Item: THIEF - Deadly Shadows - PC/NEW - FREE SHIPPING
(Item # 8130187420)
Seller: twk_atx
Your Max Bid: US $20.00
Current Item Price: US $15.01
Your help is greatly appreciated as this has me both puzzled and concerned. Many thanks.
Sincerely,
Mark Lackey
Related URL:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8130187420
AS REPLY-
First, find your snipe by clicking on : Snipes I‘ve Won (or Snipes I‘ve Lost), above and to the right of your first Ready snipe (right after you‘ve logged in).
Also note the lead time to your snipe and the time of day of the auction. It will show either Did Not Win, Snipe Placed, or Not In Time.
Please click on the confirmation link to the right of your snipe to see eBay‘s message (or 0-byte message) .
Almost all Did Not Win and Not In Time messages are due to lead time . The default lead time is 5 seconds , while adequate for most weekday situations, just isn‘t enough for evenings and weekends.
We snipe from an atomic clock which calibrates our servers. We snipe every auction not once but 3 times--from 3 different servers and locations. 2 of them snipe exactly on time, and one server tries to adjust for eBay server lag according to how long their average server is taking.
Also please remember that it‘s in our interests for you to win: if you don‘t win, we don‘t get paid---so we do our best to see that you do indeed win!
You should increase your lead time to 7-12 seconds on auctions that close 4-11 p.m. PST, and on weekends, when eBay traffic is heavier.There are risks to sniping. No service or software guarantees your wins. Here‘s the link to our page on this:
http://www.auctionsniper.com/risks.aspx
Even though the vast majority of these are due to not enough lead time, eBay server lag or heavier than usual internet traffic, you can redeem free snipes for Did Not Win or Not In Time messages at:
http://www.auctionsniper.com/freeSnipes.aspx
Sorry you missed your snipe.
Regards,
-Michelle S.
I appreciate the free snipes but I'm still a little uneasy in my mind about sniping auctions now and I never used to worry about it. Anyone else have any thoughts about the matter?