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.