Sniping in the same bid increment

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when two or more snipers snipe the same auction and bid within the same bid increment only the first [of the] two bids within that increment will show up on the auction listing.

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Yes true, but the other should get a bid to low message for their snipe attempt.

I'm assuming that they didn't hit simultaneously, of course -- don't know how three or more simultaneous bids would be handled.

Let's say the current high proxy is maxed out at $9.50 and three snipes hit with amounts of 12.00, 12.07, and 12.38.

For a few seconds, Sniper 1 would have the high bid at 10.00. Then Snipe 2 would hit, raising the high bid to 12.07. At that point Snipe #3 couldn't be placed, since the bid increment of .50 would require the minimum bid at that point to be 12.57. So Snipe #3 wouldn't ever show.

But it would be fairly easy to see (for those who get it, at least, or for those who consult the experts here) that the snipe wasn't placed because the bid increment wasn't high enough.

It said that the first two bids in that increment will show--either a proxy bid and a snipe or two snipes. Then after that any others within that increment would not even show up on the site.

Hi Falcon,

Shirleys example is correct. (thanks for pointing that out) The first two would be accepted, and the third would not.

In my answer above, I was thinking bids were within one increment of the current min bid. In Shirleys example, If the current min bid was $11.85 instead of $9.50, only one would be accepted.

In any case the bids not accepted should get a bid to low message.

Clear as mud ?

Puppy, I understand the bid increment process. I'm saying that if eBay accepts the first two within the increment and refuses the rest instead of displaying the two highest, it could cause someone to wonder why their bid (for a few pennies more) was refused and another (for a few pennies less) was taken. And by displaying two within the same increment it would cause people to wonder why their bid didn't win even though it appeared to be higher. I'm thinking that it would be easier for eBay to only display the top bid within an increment rather than the top two to prevent confusion.

Ahh.. I think I understand what you mean, but don't think it would work well.

You would get questions like 'Why was my bid not recorded when it was valid' Or 'Why was the selling price so high. You can't understand the selling price if the next to highest bid isn't displayed. I think the bid history should stay as it is, record and display all valid bids, and reject the rest. In Shirleys example if only one of the three bids were displayed, the winner would wonder why the selling price was over $12 instead of $10.

Another way that might work is to record ALL bids, and flag (maybe with a different color) the invalid bids as being 'to low', or 'increment not met'. I think that 'might' make it less confusing.

The only other option is to change all bid increments to one cent. Each higher bid is valid, and the highest bidder always wins. I imagine eBay doesn't do this to keep the number of bids down. An auction could have bid counts numbering in the hundreds or more, as each bidder raises the price by 3-4 cents at a time.

Falcon, think of how it would go if the bids WEREN'T snipes -- the first two in that increment would get accepted, but then the third bidder wouldn't even be able to ENTER his/her bid, because it wouldn't meet the minimum bid. So of course it wouldn't show in the bid history. Same with the snipes. The third bid doesn't show because it wasn't accepted.

You're right, people might wonder why their bid doesn't show, but that's only because they don't understand the system. The answer is easy -- by the time their bid was placed, it wasn't high enough to be accepted. YOu only get a partial increment if your proxy was MORE THAN one increment over the next-highest proxy's max.

...isn't that why this forum is here? So people like me with too much time on their hands can 'splain it to them?

(grin)

Shirley posted:

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...isn't that why this forum is here? So people like me with too much time on their hands can 'splain it to them?

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...and you do a very good job at it, too! Better than me, in fact, but I do take pride in the fact that, unlike me, you've never begun and end an explanation with "Once upon a time..." & "...they lived happily ever after!"

Jabbergah                                                    

Hmmm, I was thinking of how to make eBay less confusing to newbies. But that would take some of the challenge and frustration out of it, and we can't have that, right? Think how empty our lives would be without those angry icons and screaming newbies on Monday mornings. No, we're probably better off leaving eBay the way it is. Right, Puppy? Shirley? Jabber?

I'm a tech-writer/trainer by trade, but currently THEY're not letting me write OR train. Instead I spend my days doing copy-editing for people who THINK they can write, and observing people who THINK they can train. So I'm taking out my frustrations on you poor people.

And no, I've never started a post with "once upon a time", but I have been known to start a class that way...

...didn't mean to step on you quite so hard. See previous post re: frustrations...

You're right, it COULD be explained a bit more clearly to newbies. The bid increment question seems to trip people up in a LOT of ways -- I haven't really been counting, but it seems like just in the past week I've seen at least five newbie questions that were answered by some version of the phrase "That's because your proxy was less than the Minimum Bid Increment required."

But instructional writing is almost invariably referred to as "writing for people who won't read it anyway" which is why just about anyone who has ever worked on a Help Desk knows exactly what RTFM stands for... ("read the f***ing manual") It's much easier to ask someone than it is to look up the answer yourself.

The proxy biddding/bid increment system seems simple enough when you first look at it. My guess is that most people don't realize all the subtleties of it until they get bitten by them.

Tell ya what -- get one of us a job at eBay, and we'll re-write it for them!

I must be in the minority, MOST of the time I would prefer to learn by trying, reading and lastly asking.

I should try and swap those first two I guess

Lexie

Lexie, just stick to what makes you happy! I always say if it works for me, what do I care what somwone else says is right! You seem to get along just fine.

But, I'm always here if anyone needs help looking for something like Scotland, or what ever.