On my last snipe my lead time was set at 7 secs. My snipe went in 34 seconds before the auction ended. Needless to say I lost the item. This happened 12/28/03 6:15:00 PM.
Thanks - elgato19
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First, WELCOME to the forum!
Because of the way eBay lets sellers schedule auctions their servers become very busy on exact quarters hours. This is especially true in the evening, and even more so on Sundays. AS attempts to monitor this and adjust lead times to make sure your bid gets in. It's not perfect, but better to get outbid, than not bid at all.
Here are some other posts on the subject.
>> Click Here << early bid and lost auction
>> Click Here << early bid and won item
and finally this one.>> Click Here << no bid placed.
[This message was edited by puppy_raiser on December 29, 2003 at 07:03 AM.]
Because of the way eBay lets sellers schedule auctions their servers become very busy on exact quarters hours. This is especially true in the evening, and even more so on Sundays. AS attempts to monitor this and adjust lead times to make sure your bid gets in. It's not perfect, but better to get outbid, than not bid at all.
Here are some other posts on the subject.
>> Click Here << early bid and lost auction
>> Click Here << early bid and won item
and finally this one.>> Click Here << no bid placed.
[This message was edited by puppy_raiser on December 29, 2003 at 07:03 AM.]
It is not always the case that ebay cannot handle the rush. It is AS server that cannot handle their users who put in bid that ends during that exact same time instead. I have found many auctions that end during rush hour and still have the 5 seconds bid and some of those auctions used snipe service (not AS of course). I have had a really bad experience with AS and can not stand when all responses are ebay's fault. There are lots of fish in the sea, try to find one and compare.
TR
TR
Tom, I'm sure you are right to some extent. It is not ALL ebay's fault. Otherwise I would not be able to manually snipe consistently at 10-15 seconds. However it's not ALL AS's fault either. I know a bit about computers, and how they communicate. (not bragging, just fact)
The process of bidding is not a one way stream of data. It's a two way communication. AS can not just send your bid in. Both eBay and AS transmit data to each other, then spend most of their time waiting for a response. AS has most information at hand and ready because they know a snipe is going to be placed, eBay has to wait for a request to come in and then look up what is needed. This places a MUCH heavier burden on eBay than it does on AS.
If another sniping service is able to consistently do better than AS, it's probably because they have very few customers.
My question would be 'Why do they have so few customers?'
In any case, you can be sure AS does everything they can to assure your bid gets in on time, but not to early. They want you to win. That's the only time they get paid.
I manually snipe when it's convenient. (Like Sunday evenings when I'm home anyway) I use AS for those middle of the night, and while I'm away auctions.
And Tom... WELCOME to the forum. Happy to see you post, even if you don't use AS.
[This message was edited by puppy_raiser on December 29, 2003 at 11:35 AM.]
The process of bidding is not a one way stream of data. It's a two way communication. AS can not just send your bid in. Both eBay and AS transmit data to each other, then spend most of their time waiting for a response. AS has most information at hand and ready because they know a snipe is going to be placed, eBay has to wait for a request to come in and then look up what is needed. This places a MUCH heavier burden on eBay than it does on AS.
If another sniping service is able to consistently do better than AS, it's probably because they have very few customers.
My question would be 'Why do they have so few customers?'
In any case, you can be sure AS does everything they can to assure your bid gets in on time, but not to early. They want you to win. That's the only time they get paid.
I manually snipe when it's convenient. (Like Sunday evenings when I'm home anyway) I use AS for those middle of the night, and while I'm away auctions.
And Tom... WELCOME to the forum. Happy to see you post, even if you don't use AS.
[This message was edited by puppy_raiser on December 29, 2003 at 11:35 AM.]
Funny, we dont have a user with your name or email address in our system. Perhaps you can provide it to me. Additionally how would you know what eBay can handle unless you're placing as many snipes as we are.
We can handle all the snipes we need to handle just fine, and I'm 1000000% certain we have more firepower than any competitor. In fact most of them dont even own or admistrate their own servers. Leaving you at risk. And most on top of that share server space with others renting it from some hosting company. Again, even less safe. As the largest service I'm pretty sure we're doing everything right, how often do you see people here complaining we missed a snipe? Almost never.
We can handle all the snipes we need to handle just fine, and I'm 1000000% certain we have more firepower than any competitor. In fact most of them dont even own or admistrate their own servers. Leaving you at risk. And most on top of that share server space with others renting it from some hosting company. Again, even less safe. As the largest service I'm pretty sure we're doing everything right, how often do you see people here complaining we missed a snipe? Almost never.
Sara !! In dog percent, that's Seven Million! 
Thanks for all the answers, but it still doesn't explain why the snipe was placed 34 seconds before the auction ended insted of the 7 seconds specified in my snipe.
I've been using AS quite a while and have no complaints nor had any major problems. Just wondering what happened, that's all.
I've been using AS quite a while and have no complaints nor had any major problems. Just wondering what happened, that's all.
Elga,
The post links that Puppy's reply had explain. Did you read them?
The short explanation is when AS determines that communication between AS & eBay seems slow near the time it is supposed to place a bid, it automagically ADDS time to the lead time. The purpose is to ensure the bid is placed in time. The motto seems to be, "Better early than never!"
Jabbergah
The post links that Puppy's reply had explain. Did you read them?
The short explanation is when AS determines that communication between AS & eBay seems slow near the time it is supposed to place a bid, it automagically ADDS time to the lead time. The purpose is to ensure the bid is placed in time. The motto seems to be, "Better early than never!"
Jabbergah
Elga,
Care to share the item number of the lost auction?
Jabbergah
Care to share the item number of the lost auction?
Jabbergah
Sara,
A little while back, you asked what questions should make a FAQ list. THIS one may be the #1 for the list!
Is there any way the programmers can alter the algorithm that lengthens the lead times to add no more than 15 or 20 seconds? It seems quite a few of the AS users would prefer to miss the bid than to have it placed too early.
Jabbergah
A little while back, you asked what questions should make a FAQ list. THIS one may be the #1 for the list!
Is there any way the programmers can alter the algorithm that lengthens the lead times to add no more than 15 or 20 seconds? It seems quite a few of the AS users would prefer to miss the bid than to have it placed too early.
Jabbergah
Thanks Jabbergah. I went back and read them again. I didn't understand it the first time. Yep, better early than not at all. At least I got a shot at it. I've had a few snipes go in late (at least that what it looked like) and I understand the heavy traffic may have caused the problem.
All in all I'm happy with AS. Saved me a bunch over the long haul and probably kept me from buying stuff I didn't need anyway.
Hey Rick! That's a picture my Mom took on my third birthday. Wonder how that thing got on the net!???
BackToSnipingNow - elgato19
All in all I'm happy with AS. Saved me a bunch over the long haul and probably kept me from buying stuff I didn't need anyway.
Hey Rick! That's a picture my Mom took on my third birthday. Wonder how that thing got on the net!???
BackToSnipingNow - elgato19
quote:
Hey Rick! That's a picture my Mom took on my third birthday. Wonder how that thing got on the net!???
Damn paparazzi! They're everywhere.
So, Sara, they told you that was you?? Hmmm, well I found this pix of you!
