Hi
I had replies like this constantly when I asked this same question.
I found it less stressful and much easier to simply pay a different sniping service. Auction Sniper has been worst hit by this new Ebay policy of trying to stop snipes and they don't seem willing to update their programme to evade this.
I googled the problem and read that AS was worst hit. I am now using another company and so far have had no problems. I am still getting email alerts from this noticeboard and am shocked that AS are not dealing with the situation.
Thanks for reply and info. I will try another service and go from there. I wonder how eBay is determining login in needs verification since I have never run into this when I log in my self. Is it possible they use the IP address being used to login versus the most frequent IP address used to login?
I am shocked at the ridiculous evasion by the AS representative to the simple question or complaint THAT AuctionSniper has not provided a warning to new users, and every user, that the verification problem MIGHT occur, and make their snipes fail to get placed.
Snipers and snipe-aware users are missing the point of why eBay does not want sniping.
Most of eBay's interest is in new and inexperienced users, the vast majority of their potential market out there .... These new users, the first-time bidders etc. become very discouraged at losing auctions, and complain of being blind-sided by snipers. They give up using eBay, and eBay doesn't like getting the reputation of failing to satisfy their new users. Sniping does not usually provide huge increases over the winning bids, only the next higher incremental bid.
Most of eBay's interest is in new and inexperienced users, the vast majority of their potential market out there .... These new users, the first-time bidders etc. become very discouraged at losing auctions, and complain of being blind-sided by snipers. They give up using eBay, and eBay doesn't like getting the reputation of failing to satisfy their new users. Sniping does not usually provide huge increases over the winning bids, only the next higher incremental bid.
I have also just lost out on 2 important items that I was bidding for, having received the message "EBAY REQUIRES ACCOUNT VERIFICATION". After reading the various comments about this in Auction Sniper's Community, this problem is obviously very widespread, although this is the first time that it has happened to me after many years of using Auction Sniper.
This problem with both Ebay and Auction Sniper passing the buck will almost certainly frighten their customers away. Sniping has a very useful purpose in providing the facility for buyers to bid during times when they might otherwise be unavailable to check up on bidding progress and to avoid much of the 'leapfrogging'. My recent maximum bids that Auction Sniper was prevented from placing for 2 items was about 4 times higher than the amount that they finally sold for. If the actual winning bidder's maximum bid was anything near to mine, then the seller only achieved a quarter of the amount that he would otherwise have received (for both items).
The reply that I received from Auction Sniper to my complaint was virtually identical to those that others appear to have received, so they are just using a standard template with no intention of getting to the root of the problem.
I may well dispense with Auction Sniper's services if my current bids fail for the same reason. I'll certainly look for an alternative sniping provider or won't even bother spending my money at Ebay.
My reaction to those that have suggested using two sniping services for the same item in order to safeguard their bids, is that they may well leapfrog themselves so that they end up paying their maximum bid instead of a potentially much lower amount if a competing bidder's maximum was much lower. There's no point in competing against yourself!!
It's such a shame that this problem has reared its ugly head, when Ebay and Auction Sniper seemed to have co-existed for so long, satisfactorily. As it stands, the sellers will definitely be the ones to lose out.
Brian
This problem with both Ebay and Auction Sniper passing the buck will almost certainly frighten their customers away. Sniping has a very useful purpose in providing the facility for buyers to bid during times when they might otherwise be unavailable to check up on bidding progress and to avoid much of the 'leapfrogging'. My recent maximum bids that Auction Sniper was prevented from placing for 2 items was about 4 times higher than the amount that they finally sold for. If the actual winning bidder's maximum bid was anything near to mine, then the seller only achieved a quarter of the amount that he would otherwise have received (for both items).
The reply that I received from Auction Sniper to my complaint was virtually identical to those that others appear to have received, so they are just using a standard template with no intention of getting to the root of the problem.
I may well dispense with Auction Sniper's services if my current bids fail for the same reason. I'll certainly look for an alternative sniping provider or won't even bother spending my money at Ebay.
My reaction to those that have suggested using two sniping services for the same item in order to safeguard their bids, is that they may well leapfrog themselves so that they end up paying their maximum bid instead of a potentially much lower amount if a competing bidder's maximum was much lower. There's no point in competing against yourself!!
It's such a shame that this problem has reared its ugly head, when Ebay and Auction Sniper seemed to have co-existed for so long, satisfactorily. As it stands, the sellers will definitely be the ones to lose out.
Brian
tonybrams - as a former disgruntled consultant who worked for eBay - you are attacking the wrong target. The auction sniper boilerplate you agreed to day one indicates the service at times may not work. That is the AS disclaimer that protects them. That used to be necessary because of poor connections or maintenance. Now it is essential because eBay keeps changing the "type" of question, when it is asked and how often it happens. The latest in a whole string of issues is this account verification question.
The actual "problem" is eBay. The key (some say only) concern of the bay is profit. Their studies indicate that on average sniping reduces their profits at the bottom line. I know they would like to prohibit sniping all together but face potential litigation as a result. At one time, sellers could indicate that they would not accept snipes from people who did not bid previously in the auction. That was challenged and to avoid legal action by AS the practice was prohibited. Sellers (at least until the date I was terminated) could no longer prohibit sniping. They (eBay) fear litigation most of all. They will do the absolute MINIMUM to avoid a law-suit and there is essentially no concern whatsoever for the buyers and sellers. That is life with eBay.
I think the proof is contained in the fact that eBay does not offer a sniping service themselves. If the fees to be gained from sniping exceeded the impact sniping had on the bottom line eBay would do it themselves.
Complaints and our anger, if any, should be directed at eBay not elsewhere.
The actual "problem" is eBay. The key (some say only) concern of the bay is profit. Their studies indicate that on average sniping reduces their profits at the bottom line. I know they would like to prohibit sniping all together but face potential litigation as a result. At one time, sellers could indicate that they would not accept snipes from people who did not bid previously in the auction. That was challenged and to avoid legal action by AS the practice was prohibited. Sellers (at least until the date I was terminated) could no longer prohibit sniping. They (eBay) fear litigation most of all. They will do the absolute MINIMUM to avoid a law-suit and there is essentially no concern whatsoever for the buyers and sellers. That is life with eBay.
I think the proof is contained in the fact that eBay does not offer a sniping service themselves. If the fees to be gained from sniping exceeded the impact sniping had on the bottom line eBay would do it themselves.
Complaints and our anger, if any, should be directed at eBay not elsewhere.
It's just business, and if we don't like eBay, we can go elsewhere. They are not a public utility, nor a non-profit corp. Of course they will cater to their maximum profit.
What we are looking for is a program that can be installed on our own computer, that will place the snipe emulating as if we were doing it manually. Not a big problem having a slightly slower connection, make it 10 seconds before the end, ok by me. It is really down to proxy against proxy, regardless of the snipe timing.
What we are looking for is a program that can be installed on our own computer, that will place the snipe emulating as if we were doing it manually. Not a big problem having a slightly slower connection, make it 10 seconds before the end, ok by me. It is really down to proxy against proxy, regardless of the snipe timing.
I went to another Sniper company and got on their forum. The same issue came up about "Account Verification Required". They only have two complaints. Only two and they are a company with a large number of subscribers. Their service people said all you need to do was change your Ebay password and it should fix the problem (and don't forget to change it in your sniping program too). Anyone try this?
If I have many snipes placed on AuctionSniper and I change the password on Ebay, do I need to delete all my snipes and resubmit them after the password is changed in AuctionSniper?
Looked at a second sniper comapany and they have zero complaints about "Account Verification Required". Seems to be AuctionSniper problem to me. And if it is as easy as a password change to fix the issue, then why haven't the service department alerted us to a simple change like this?
Looked at a second sniper comapany and they have zero complaints about "Account Verification Required". Seems to be AuctionSniper problem to me. And if it is as easy as a password change to fix the issue, then why haven't the service department alerted us to a simple change like this?
My account hasn't been able to verify, or snipe now for 3 hours, ironically right after AUction Sniper billed me.
quote:Originally posted by Silverfox:
If I have many snipes placed on AuctionSniper and I change the password on Ebay, do I need to delete all my snipes and resubmit them after the password is changed in AuctionSniper?
Looked at a second sniper comapany and they have zero complaints about "Account Verification Required". Seems to be AuctionSniper problem to me. And if it is as easy as a password change to fix the issue, then why haven't the service department alerted us to a simple change like this?
I just tried this, doesn't work. Auction Sniper still broken.
5 Hours now, still no response from Auction Sniper, snipes still failing. No response to the support ticket either.
I've been quite happy with AS for many years - and I can totally understand not only why eBay is doing this, but why it's outside AS' control.
However, AS have and are handling it badly, although I'll miss some of AS' extra features (bid groups), I'm now using a rival service. They have a more usable mobile site, and - ultimately - work reliably so far.
So long AS, it was good while it lasted. If other posters want to know who this other service is, look at my post in the other forum for a big clue.
However, AS have and are handling it badly, although I'll miss some of AS' extra features (bid groups), I'm now using a rival service. They have a more usable mobile site, and - ultimately - work reliably so far.
So long AS, it was good while it lasted. If other posters want to know who this other service is, look at my post in the other forum for a big clue.
It worked for a few hours last night, but now Its needing verification again, and I lost more auctions.
General Notice
We are currently unable to verify your username and password. This could be a temporary connection problem to eBay from our website servers. Our sniping service has multiple server locations, so even if you cannot verify from the website at this time, your snipes should still be placed. If this problem persists, please contact support via the 'help' tab.
We are currently unable to verify your username and password. This could be a temporary connection problem to eBay from our website servers. Our sniping service has multiple server locations, so even if you cannot verify from the website at this time, your snipes should still be placed. If this problem persists, please contact support via the 'help' tab.
if you care about winning you need to go on another site. At the moment this site is not caring to do anything about it, but others still work. Until people start leaving AS aren't going to care it seems.
One of the attractions of auctionsniper for me has been that it costs me very little. Services with monthly subscriptions would certainly cost me more. That may mean that the profit available is not worth the trouble of dealing with Ebay's new security measures. At least that is the impression I am getting.
After a battle with Auctionsniper about this happening a month or so ago, it worked for a few bids. Now, it's not again. I just lost two items I would have won.
I am going to look for an alternative auction sniper, after using this site for probably 5 years. Sorry, I just can't keep losing from erratic programming.
I am going to look for an alternative auction sniper, after using this site for probably 5 years. Sorry, I just can't keep losing from erratic programming.
Stupid me, I decided to use AS one more time on an auction closing this morning while also being logged in and active on eBay manually. A sunstantial incovenience. Same problem occurred, no bid was placed, and I lost the auction.
eBay is definetely targeting snipers, at least AS. And AS is clueless. I'm going to try with other web-based snipe programs, but AS no longer. AMF
eBay is definetely targeting snipers, at least AS. And AS is clueless. I'm going to try with other web-based snipe programs, but AS no longer. AMF
And I'll be changing my eBay acct password.
Hi folks, new here, but using auction sniper for well over 5 years. I lost a VERY good pipe that I wanted... and it went WELL below what I was willing to pay. Contacted AuctionSniper... no response. I'm currently looking for another sniping site. Any suggestions?
I fail to understand the anger directed at Auction Sniper - the problem is with eBay not auction sniper.
lol, not exactly.
Ebay is trying to stop snipes to make more money, which is greedy, but what a big company does. Snipe companies are there to provide a service for the customer who doesn't want to end up in a bidding war with over inflated prices. It's a service they decided to provide (which we pay for) If their service is outdated then they need to update it, or at least be honest about it!!
Ebay is trying to stop snipes to make more money, which is greedy, but what a big company does. Snipe companies are there to provide a service for the customer who doesn't want to end up in a bidding war with over inflated prices. It's a service they decided to provide (which we pay for) If their service is outdated then they need to update it, or at least be honest about it!!
I called the idiots at eBay and they first informed me that sniping is against eBay policy, and then told me that it is ok, but the error messages for account verification are not from eBay, but from the siping tool itself, and that they have been getting a lot of calls about it.
Lost another auction due to account verification! I've had it! This is unconscionable! It has gone on too long and Each company blames the other and both the bidder and seller get screwed! I'm looking into alternatives. Auction sniper...this could be the death of you if you don't do something! After all the years I have relied on you, you do nothing to help me...shameful!
quote:Originally posted by StevieCL:
Lost another auction due to account verification! I've had it! This is unconscionable! It has gone on too long and Each company blames the other and both the bidder and seller get screwed! I'm looking into alternatives. Auction sniper...this could be the death of you if you don't do something! After all the years I have relied on you, you do nothing to help me...shameful!
This has spread to other sniper services as well is the problem. its not JUST Auction Sniper, though they appear to be the first, and their customer service lousy
quote:Originally posted by cpushack:quote:Originally posted by StevieCL:
Lost another auction due to account verification! I've had it! This is unconscionable! It has gone on too long and Each company blames the other and both the bidder and seller get screwed! I'm looking into alternatives. Auction sniper...this could be the death of you if you don't do something! After all the years I have relied on you, you do nothing to help me...shameful!
This has spread to other sniper services as well is the problem. its not JUST Auction Sniper, though they appear to be the first, and their customer service lousy
Well it will not end up doing either company any good...if people cannot be available to bid and sniper sites don't work, those people won't get the bid in...how does that benefit the companys?
quote:Originally posted by StevieCL:quote:Originally posted by cpushack:quote:Originally posted by StevieCL:
Lost another auction due to account verification! I've had it! This is unconscionable! It has gone on too long and Each company blames the other and both the bidder and seller get screwed! I'm looking into alternatives. Auction sniper...this could be the death of you if you don't do something! After all the years I have relied on you, you do nothing to help me...shameful!
This has spread to other sniper services as well is the problem. its not JUST Auction Sniper, though they appear to be the first, and their customer service lousy
Well it will not end up doing either company any good...if people cannot be available to bid and sniper sites don't work, those people won't get the bid in...how does that benefit the companys?
eBay wants more money, (new activist board is VERY focused on boosting short term profits) Sniping decreases the end price of some auctions (as it prevents bidding wars).
eBay wants you to bid early and bid often, so that they can make a bit more on fees, at the expense of pissing off some buyers.
Just lost an auction 5 minutes ago. Item was one-of-a-kind that I've never seen before. Please fix this!
Selling on ebay sucks now and now you can't bid with sniping...so why bother?
If eBay tries to say they are NOT the cause they are lying. There is no time to answer the verification question unless you are sniping in person with more than a minute to go - in which case there is no snipe. The problem is caused by eBay - their new management team has changed a lot of things to get more money with less work. They started by taking apart trust and safety. They disbanded the watch committees that were stopping fraudulent auctions. Since then they have been retrenching more and more. Blame eBay - they made a change that no amount of programming by a sniping company can respond to. It takes a living person to reply to the security question with answers customers never give to the sniping services.
Add me to the list of those who have lost now 4 auctions due to "eBay Requires Account Verification." I tried changing username and password to no avail. FOr a while the "Check Staus" under "My Snipes, "Account" was saying that it could not verify my account. However, this morning and now it is saying my account is verified and all auctions should be placed properly. However, I just lost another one due to this same issue. It is starting to get very annoying. Auction Sniper help is of no help. I too have been a member for years, but if this continues, I will look for another program.
If it is eBay wanting more money, then they are kidding themselves. I lost 4 auctions that I would have won if Auction Sniper had placed my bids. eBay, Auction Sniper, and the seller would have all made more money, and I would have been happy to get my items. Now I am pissed along with the rest of you.
You are actually incorrect about eBay losing money but eliminating snipes. I completed a two part experiment recently (since I started writing in here). I placed 100 bids on low value coins. They were placed at two levels - one just UNDER retail - the other at full retail plus 10%. I expected that I would lose the low bids but win some or most of the over retail bids. However, I lost all but one.
Try it yourself - if you place a bid on an item when it appears - someone will chip away at your number until they find and exceed that bid. If there were no snipes - eBay would definitely increase their commissions and we would lose our savings.
So it is my belief that placing a bid that matches your snipe amount will cause you to lose the auction or pay the snipe amount in EVERY case. (The only exception are "buy" snipes where you bid a huge amount and there you will just pay a lot over retail.)
Try it yourself - if you place a bid on an item when it appears - someone will chip away at your number until they find and exceed that bid. If there were no snipes - eBay would definitely increase their commissions and we would lose our savings.
So it is my belief that placing a bid that matches your snipe amount will cause you to lose the auction or pay the snipe amount in EVERY case. (The only exception are "buy" snipes where you bid a huge amount and there you will just pay a lot over retail.)
@swamperbob
The problem with your analysis is that you're assuming (or you're assuming that eBay is assuming) that as an alternative to sniping, we will all either manually snipe, or bid as you have. I for one will not. If I can't have a bot snipe for me, I simply will not bid, and instead will confine myself to BIN listings. And if other people feel the way I do, eBay definitely will lose money, as will their sellers.
The problem with your analysis is that you're assuming (or you're assuming that eBay is assuming) that as an alternative to sniping, we will all either manually snipe, or bid as you have. I for one will not. If I can't have a bot snipe for me, I simply will not bid, and instead will confine myself to BIN listings. And if other people feel the way I do, eBay definitely will lose money, as will their sellers.
Hello Community -
We have been looking into this issue and working towards a solution. Most recently, we have made some further adjustments on our end in this last week which were working towards a solution and have since seen significant indications that this work has brought improved results.
We are aware that the issue has not been resolved entirely - there are still instances of captcha's and other verifications occurring, however, significant progress has been made in this area and we continue to devote our resources toward a resolution.
I will update this thread again as more information becomes available.
Thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter.
- Craig
We have been looking into this issue and working towards a solution. Most recently, we have made some further adjustments on our end in this last week which were working towards a solution and have since seen significant indications that this work has brought improved results.
We are aware that the issue has not been resolved entirely - there are still instances of captcha's and other verifications occurring, however, significant progress has been made in this area and we continue to devote our resources toward a resolution.
I will update this thread again as more information becomes available.
Thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter.
- Craig
Having worked for eBay, I can only indicate that eBay has studied every angle for the potential of profit generation and they would not be making a move against the snipers unless they see a clear profit as a result.
They (eBay) studied the Coin Community Watch Group right out of existence as a result one of their studies.
I do know from discussions with others at eBay that "new" bidders were also seen as a profit area - retention of old bidders was a lower priority.
Also, which came as a surprise to me, the more technical bidding areas like coins and collectibles were seen as only marginal profit sources compared to other more market driven auctions (clothes jewels watches). At one point when they were being pressed by the ANA and politicians, eBay legal seriously considered ceasing auctions of coins because they were not worth it. They instead began the 6 year experiment with the Coin Watch Committee which tracked and eliminated fraud in the coins area. We terminated hundreds of frauds a week and the bottom line was a $1,000,000 loss on the eBay bottom line. Right after that new was published the committee was disbanded.
So I believe my assumptions fit the facts well. This is an orchestrated and very intentional move by eBay.
The only thing eBay actually fears is a law suit. This anti-competitive aspect of their behavior could be the basis for a class action law suit.
They (eBay) studied the Coin Community Watch Group right out of existence as a result one of their studies.
I do know from discussions with others at eBay that "new" bidders were also seen as a profit area - retention of old bidders was a lower priority.
Also, which came as a surprise to me, the more technical bidding areas like coins and collectibles were seen as only marginal profit sources compared to other more market driven auctions (clothes jewels watches). At one point when they were being pressed by the ANA and politicians, eBay legal seriously considered ceasing auctions of coins because they were not worth it. They instead began the 6 year experiment with the Coin Watch Committee which tracked and eliminated fraud in the coins area. We terminated hundreds of frauds a week and the bottom line was a $1,000,000 loss on the eBay bottom line. Right after that new was published the committee was disbanded.
So I believe my assumptions fit the facts well. This is an orchestrated and very intentional move by eBay.
The only thing eBay actually fears is a law suit. This anti-competitive aspect of their behavior could be the basis for a class action law suit.
Swamperbob - I'm sure you're right that eBay has looked at this and decided that there is money to be made by eliminating sniping. Of course I don't agree, but mine is a focus group of one. If they believe that there's more money in newbie bidders at the expense of the tried-and-true, then this move makes sense, as new users are confused and frustrated when a sniper takes an auction away from them. It is analogous to Microsoft completely changing the Office interface to attract new users, at the expense of all of us who now have to learn a new user interface. It's sad, because I will end up more or less abandoning eBay. Your bidding experiment (and thanks for that, by the way) proved what we all know anecdotally: sniping is essential.
Your notion of a class action suit is intriguing. I've never been asked for verification; I suspect eBay would have a hard time explaining why they seem to require it only of sniper bots, or why they don't allow bots in the first place. Hopefully AS is pursuing this strategem.
Your notion of a class action suit is intriguing. I've never been asked for verification; I suspect eBay would have a hard time explaining why they seem to require it only of sniper bots, or why they don't allow bots in the first place. Hopefully AS is pursuing this strategem.
I used to use AS quite a bit to get the items I was bidding on from eBay but I took some time off 'cause I was spending WAY too much money.
So, now I've started to bid on items again on eBay and low and behold, I've discovered that AS doesn't appear to work with eBay anymore: I received the same frustrating message that all of you have regarding "account verification" and have missed several auctions today because of it.
I've read through this forum and I'm of the belief that this issue is being generated by eBay on purpose.
I placed a manual bid on an item that I did not want the chance of losing and found it quite interesting that, after I confirmed my bid, I was presented with a "ad" to download the "eBay app" to stay on top of the auction and be able to rebid at a moment's notice.
I think eBay is trying to block out the snipping bots and force people to use the eBay app instead. Since most people have smart phones now, I can see eBay justifying this behavior by claiming that with the app, bidders can be involved in the auction process even when they're not in front of their computers. While claiming to give bidders "more access" this move, in my opinion, is to drive up final bid prices as many have speculated in this forum.
I would be interested in what a lawyer would have to say about a class action suit as, I suppose from a business aspect, that eBay is not required to allow 3rd party software to interact with their website regardless of what the user wants.
I think the whole topic would be new territory to explore from a legal and net neutrality point of view.
So, now I've started to bid on items again on eBay and low and behold, I've discovered that AS doesn't appear to work with eBay anymore: I received the same frustrating message that all of you have regarding "account verification" and have missed several auctions today because of it.
I've read through this forum and I'm of the belief that this issue is being generated by eBay on purpose.
I placed a manual bid on an item that I did not want the chance of losing and found it quite interesting that, after I confirmed my bid, I was presented with a "ad" to download the "eBay app" to stay on top of the auction and be able to rebid at a moment's notice.
I think eBay is trying to block out the snipping bots and force people to use the eBay app instead. Since most people have smart phones now, I can see eBay justifying this behavior by claiming that with the app, bidders can be involved in the auction process even when they're not in front of their computers. While claiming to give bidders "more access" this move, in my opinion, is to drive up final bid prices as many have speculated in this forum.
I would be interested in what a lawyer would have to say about a class action suit as, I suppose from a business aspect, that eBay is not required to allow 3rd party software to interact with their website regardless of what the user wants.
I think the whole topic would be new territory to explore from a legal and net neutrality point of view.
I've received this issue twice in the last few days and am unable to verify via the account area in auction sniper.
On both failures I had the response message from ebay is below.
I assume it's the same for the verify button although I have no way to know.
When I logged out and back in to ebay on my computer, I got the same message. On selecting the phone option, it confirmed my number then called me straight away with a code to enter.
I'm guessing that ebay keeps a list of computers that log into the account and that auction sniper servers that have not accessed it before are getting this issue.
I know that it may not be fixable in the last few seconds of an auction but using the verify account button it could select the phone or email option and have a way to enter the code into auction sniper for it to pass on. It may need to be done multiple times to get all the servers to access ebay but if that needs to be done for my AS account to work, then it needs to be done.
On both failures I had the response message from ebay is below.
quote:Choose how you'd like to receive your confirmation code
We'll send a message to the option you select.
By Phone (voice or text)
By Email
I assume it's the same for the verify button although I have no way to know.
When I logged out and back in to ebay on my computer, I got the same message. On selecting the phone option, it confirmed my number then called me straight away with a code to enter.
I'm guessing that ebay keeps a list of computers that log into the account and that auction sniper servers that have not accessed it before are getting this issue.
I know that it may not be fixable in the last few seconds of an auction but using the verify account button it could select the phone or email option and have a way to enter the code into auction sniper for it to pass on. It may need to be done multiple times to get all the servers to access ebay but if that needs to be done for my AS account to work, then it needs to be done.