AS feature request: eBay Responsiveness Indicator

With the technology available today, I am sure this is possible. The only problem I see would be the buyer flipping back and forth and so forth, trying to keep track of the traffic....and then, changing their lead time up..back.. well you get the idea.

rsmiller40

I like the idea in theory, we put it on a list, but it still may get nixed by the programmers.

Since snipes cant be edited within 2 minutes of the snipe being place it wouldnt be super useful, but I guess if eBay was running consistently slowly for a long time it could be. But in that case our software that snipes already handles extending your snipe lead time to match.

Sara,

Although I appreciate your answer, I am still very confused. If AS adjusts snipe times for busy periods, why all the advice by users to increase snipe time to 15 seconds (from 8) on Sundays?

I'd like a definitive answer: should snipe times be increased by *users* for busy periods, or should snipe times remain the same and let AS handle the increase automatically?

Thanks...

Very good observation, Auto! I am assuming they don't adjust it enough or perhaps the program only allows a certain degree of adjustment. What about it, AS?

rsmiller40

quote:

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If AS adjusts snipe times for busy periods, why all the advice by users to increase snipe time to 15 seconds (from 8) on Sundays?

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Because eBay is so erratic that sometimes even our adjustments arent enough. Say eBay is running 8 seconds slow so we adjust by 8 seconds, but then when we place those snipes more people are using eBay and they slowed even more and now they are running 13 seconds slow. At that point 5 second lead time snipes are in jeopardy and any lead times less than 5 would likely show up as "not in time."

We only adjust your snipe so that we still try and get it in at the lead time you specified. We dont take into account flucuations in eBays speed in processing snipes that may change from second to second and thus still cause your snipe to be late. Bigger lead times help cover that end for you.

i.e. if eBay is 20 seconds slow and you have a 15 second lead time even your gracious lead time wouldnt have saved you. But our adjustment by 20 seconds will have. So we do save many many snipes by our adjustments. But when there are big swings in eBays speed in handling a snipe we send then a snipe can be missed if it has a small lead time.

We do a pretty good job. Even last night, eBays busiest night this year only 1 in 200 snipes was "Not in time." And I can tell you that a TON of people still use 1,2,3, and 4 second lead times. Mostly 1 and 2 were the ones losing.

Sara, thank you for explaining it so well! We all appreciate understanding how things work. This way, we can better judge what we should be doing with our snipes.

rsmiller40

Compounding this issue are those folks that get fairly passionate if their snipes are placed too early. They can get very vocal about a 5 second snipe being placed 10 seconds before the close of the auction. Makes for a very difficult balancing act AS has to play.

Perhaps AS should add a line to the confirmation email along the lines of:-

Lead time adjusted to 10 seconds to allow for slower than usual eBay server speed.

Might stop people moaning!

R2

quote:

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Originally posted by region2:

Might stop people moaning!

R2

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I doubt there is anything in this world that can do that!

I kinda like that suggestion. We'll keep it in mind as it could be useful. I'm not sure how hard it would be to do. If it's not too much work you just might see it.

Hello -- !!

Just fix it please so my 3 sec lead time works every time please. I must use 3 sec because 3 is my lucky number.

Thank you and best wishes,

B D S

Wow, Big Steve, you are a gambling man, for sure! I am curious, what are your win-lose ratios? 3 second..wow!

Mrs. M

Pretty high win rate I'd bet.

Most snipes we miss or are late are due to the the dumb hour and half hour things or random eBay burps that even a 10 second lead wouldnt help with. On a day like today maybe 1 in 400 snipes would miss. And that would include all 1,2,3 second snipes. Odds are slightly higher it's one of those that was late.

Hello -- !!

I've had great success (Sarah, did you look?) with a 3 sec lead until just the last couple months. I'm not really much of a gambler but cutting it close makes it more fun somehow.

Thank you and best wishes,
B D S

Hello -- !!

Sara, what "dumb hour and half hour things" are you referring to??

Thank you and best wishes,
-<<<BDS>>>-

BDS,

This should answer your question:
>>> CLICK HERE <<<

It also applies to quarter hour auctions.

Hello -- !!

Thank you, Rick -- !!

Best wishes,
-•-BDS-•-

Guess I'm not that "gutsy"! I set mine at 8 seconds, then durng busy traffic times, I add 15 to it.

Mrs. M

Guess I'm not that "gutsy"! I set mine at 8 seconds, then durng busy trafic times, I add 15 to it.

Mrs. M

Oh, my, dear, do you think it is him? I'll bet the poor dear has a problem with his shirts.





Mrs. M

If it's him, I sure hope he doesn't have a problem with me.

Well, if he want to fight you, remember..





Mrs. M

Hello -- !!

Heh. That's not me, its my son. (He always was a little scrawny)

All photos of me have been removed from the internet, but I appreciate the thought.

Thank you and best wishes,

B D S

It could lead to reliance on the feature and hence, a certain amount of liability on AS's part if an auction were to fail.

Would defenitely need some form of disclaimer.

Hello, Nik, and to our forum!!

I guess I am just to dern lazy.. I have mine preset to 'lucky' 7 and never change it

Besides, of what use would be such an indicator be for auctions that are endng hours or days away? AS already checks the response rate just before it places the bid, and adjusts accordingly. Unless one is placing a bid just minutes before auction's end, what would there be for AS to check at the time the bid was placed?