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11 replies

Auction ended, my snipe for it still says "ready"...???

W wehoMember
Hi.

Newbie Question, here...please be gentle. Wink

Here's what happened: I wanted to snipe a lamp this evening and I placed the snipe for it at least hour or more before the end of auction, well above the current price then listed. I received no "outbid" notices. However, in looking at "My Snipes" I see the snipe is still listed as though it is waiting to be placed. This seems very odd. It's not a question of the window being an old one. I tried updating the information, opening a new (fresh) window with "My Snipes" and see the same thing. The snipe is still there, sitting (now) at the bottom of the queue, rather than at the top (where the most recent snipe would be).

The lamp sold for $19.01, and my snipe would have been for only $19.99, which would not have won the item because it was not a full dollar over the winning amount (so let me first say I'm not asking why I did not win -- I understand that I would not have won if my bid had been placed, or if A.S. had attempted to place the bid and the bid had been "bumped" by someone else's proxy).

What I find confusing is that (now that the auction is over) the bid is still sitting in "My Snipes" as though it's waiting to be made. In the box for the snipe is a "Confirmation" button instead of the button that typically says "Modify". The ending time of the auction is listed there as well -- so A.S. evindently knows the auction closed, yet the Snipe status still says "Ready" in green. Again, I tried updating the screen and got no change.

I checked the auction and it did indeed end. This was not part of a Bid Group, either.

Can anyone explain this strange phenomenon to me, please? And what does "Confirmation" mean in this context?

MANY THANKS IN ADVANCE!
weho
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region2region2Member
It's arrived on the My Snipes page so the confirmation button has been pressed on the Snipe It Now page...

The fact it has moved in the list gives us a clue - something has happened to make it move (i.e. the auction ended), but why is it still on the list and why is it still showing Ready?

Near the top of the My Snipes page is a 'pull down' that says, in my case, "Ready to Snipe". What does yours say? Experiment with it as, if you set it to "All Items" then it will show items that you have won and lost as well. This is where the button is - no idea what you are confirming but it takes you back to the item - strange!

Change the pull-down back to "ready to Snipe" to see if the snipe in question disappears. That's the best status to leave the page in (it seems to remember!) for day-to-day usage...

As to the status not changing, I'm afraid I cannot answer that.

R2
Last edited {1}
rickrickMember
quote:
Originally posted by weho:
The lamp sold for $19.01, and my snipe would have been for only $19.99, which would not have won the item because it was not a full dollar over the winning amount

This may only cause confusion, but the bid increment for $5 - $24.99 is $.50.

Maybe lead time on Sunday night?
Last edited {1}
rickrickMember
quote:
Originally posted by rsmiller40:
but perhaps it is simply a total AS delay in even updating the completed snipes status because of a very busy time.

Anything is possible, Mrs. M.

We know that the bid amount was $19.99. If weho were to provide the auction # and lead time, that might help to determine what happened.

I'm also curious to find out what happens after weho follows R2's suggestions and questions.
W wehoMember
Hi Folks,

Thanks for the advice and suggestions. Clicking on the Confirmation button didn't remove the listing, btw. It was a red herring.

I always try to keep the list in "My Snipes" set on "Ready to Snipe" if that answers another question.

Also, the auction number was 3241549977 and the lead time was 4 seconds. I usually use 4 seconds and have had a lot of success on bunches of auctions already. I may increase to 5 seconds, I suppose...

I also came upon the fact after I posted that bid increases are only $.50 in the range I bid in, so if anything I *should have won* the item, or at least forced the other buyer's proxy up to the next increment if it exceeded my snipe.

I presume Sunday night is a rush time for bidding and AS wasn't able to place my snipe in a timely fashion. Also, I suspect the reason the item lingered in my "My Snipes" list in limbo, as it were, saying "Ready" to snipe even though the auction had long since ended, was a glitch related to AS "catching up" perhaps with what was going on. I'm still bummed I lost out on this item -- it was REALLY what I was looking for -- but Such Is Life, and it's clearly spelled out in the AS sign-up literature and on help pages that AS doesn't guarantee a snipe will ever be placed. (shrugs) We takes our chances and we gets what we gets.

Already I have had to outbid my own snipe on a couple other recent auctions when bidding has gotten down to the wire (in the last 90 seconds, when AS freezes sniping) and my snipe has been exceeded. Lucky for me I watched those auctions closely or I wouldn't have known until after the fact that my snipe was eclipsed. AS is great, but there's no substitute for watching an important auction through to the last second in case bidding skyrockets and the snipe is left in the dust even before it can be placed. In that case, manual bidding is the only way out, and it's worked in one case, and in another it hasn't. Sure would be helpful if AS could tell what a high bidder's *proxy* is (and whether a snipe is likely to be eclipsed), rather than simply compare the snipe to the "high bid" amount. (WINK WINK!) Wink

Thanks again to everyone who responded. Don't know if the situation I described can actually be clarified any better than what has been suggested, but if you care to post again now that I've given the auction number and lead time for the snipe with new info I'll check back in a couple days. Again, thanks for your help folks.Smile
C chatterMember
Weho, remember that it is the HIGHEST bid that wins, not necessarily the LAST bid. A few extra seconds, particularly on Sunday nights, is a good pad, to insure that eBay receives your bid in time Wink

Also, I would also urge you to always bid your true max, rather than changing your snipe amount at the last minute. If you are willing to up your snipe amount, then you are not really bidding your max. If you do not bid your max, you may find that sometimes (especially when you are not at the computer when the auction is ending) that you may regret it! Wink
rickrickMember
quote:
Originally posted by weho:
Also, the auction number was 3241549977 and the lead time was 4 seconds. I usually use 4 seconds and have had a lot of success on bunches of auctions already. I may increase to 5 seconds, I suppose...

weho,

You had two things going against you - Sunday night prime time and an auction ending on the exact quarter hour (19:30:00). Prime time it is recommended to use 12+ seconds, and quarter hour it is recommended to use 15+ seconds. I would never go under 5 seconds, even for slow periods. Most of us like 8 seconds for those type of auctions.

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