Ebay experts: I need your help!!! What just happened?

[bliss_eternal]

Ok, so I go back to ebay, prepared to win the bid for this item. In the last five minutes, I set my bid up. In the last two minutes, I click on bid.

I was the current highest bidder, and the auction was set to end in less than a minute. Here's where it gets weird.

Suddenly, the auction time remaining CHANGED! Now there are 23 hours left in the auction!! :wtf:

How can it go from 3 minutes left to 23 frickin' hours?!?
Is this what happens when the person has a RESERVE set? :crazy:

[SmokingJacket]

1. I've never heard of that happening

But I don't think it has anything to do with a reserve...

Weird!

On edit: email Ebay and ask about this... I'm curious!

[Nigel_Tufnel]

2. never heard of it, either

and i sell on ebay a LOT

maybe send a message to the seller, he might know something?

[bliss_eternal]

3. Good idea--I'll try that...

contacting ebay and the seller...I'll be back.

[Spock_is_Skeptical]

4. I've never heard of this in all my ebay years...

And I buy/sell a lot currently. A seller isn't able to edit the auction within the last 12 hours, so I've no idea what happened in that auction you speak of.

Truly weird, perhaps a glitch? Doesn't make any sense to me.

[napi21]

5. Never had that happen and I've been buying & selling for 5 years!

There are other auctions that extend the time if a bid is placed in the last 5 minutes, but not Ebay! Hmmmm

[Nigel_Tufnel]

6. oh yeah, i thought i read about that somewhere....

that there are auctions where the auction will extend if you try to bid at the last minute.

might not be a bad idea, at least from the seller's point of view.

[meti57b]

7. Here is what is currently in ebay's help file .....

~~snip~~
Is it permitted for another bidder to bid on an item I was bidding on at the very last second and win it?

Yes, it is.

Within the eBay Community, this practice is called "sniping" and it means to place a high bid in the closing seconds of an auction-style listing.

As frustrating as it can be to lose an item you really wanted, sniping is part of the eBay experience, and all bids placed before a listing ends are valid - even if they're placed only one second before the listing ends.

One way to help avoid disappointment is to ensure that the maximum bid you enter on the item page is the highest price that you're willing to pay. The eBay proxy bidding system automatically increases your bid up to the maximum price you specify, so entering a higher maximum may help prevent you from being outbid in the closing seconds of a listing.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/outbid-ov.html

That looks like business as usual. Is it possible that you confused the ending time of a couple auctions you were bidding on?

[bliss_eternal]

10. edited to remove link...

to the page of the auction just prior to the ending time I noted...

(edited to remove link--personal info revealed)...

[henslee]

12. Sniping is an adrenalin rush. It is what ebay is all about.

[bliss_eternal]

15. This is the first time I've actually had things together enough

to even plan a snipe. I must admit, I was pretty excited thinking I may have won the auction. Silly me. LOL!

[henslee]

20. Lick yer wounds n' get back in there!

[bliss_eternal]

8. I've contacted e-bay and the seller--

So far no word from either, so we'll see...

If there was a reserve of some sort that wasn't met, (I'm guessing here) maybe that would add some time to the auction.

If that was the case, I am not interested in the item and don't want to be held accountable for the bid. I know that sellers can keep the reserve amount private--but this is not ok with me. If I know there is a reserve, I won't bid on the item, as it is just pita for me.

If someone isn't clear about their terms up front, they shouldn't expect me to want follow through when those terms aren't made clear fromt the beginning.

Arrrgh! If this turns into a hassle, I won't be doing much shopping on ebay anymore...(sigh)

[NewJeffCT]

21. auctions with reserves usually state they have a reserve

it doesn't state the amount of the reserve... but, it will usually say if the reserve has been met or not.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

9. Was the auction being run by Tom Delay?

He's pretty good at extending the time until he gets the results he wants.

[bliss_eternal]

11. LOL! LOL!

Good one!

:rofl:

[Generic Other]

13. A bunch of us are now wondering if we should bid on the tape

that bra roll thing...glad to know there's a term for it...

[bliss_eternal]

14. Haha!

Yep, there's a term for it...

[bliss_eternal]

16. Someone on the sellers board, explained it to me...

The auction end times on 7 day auctions can seem a bit ambiguous (that and I apparently was lacking in reading comprehension last night and this morning..haha).

Even though it said auction ends Aug6, 2005 at 12:09 pm it actually doesn't end until tomorrow at the same time.

:dunce:

:banghead:

Thanks to everyone that tried to help me in my moments of density and profound stupidity...

[all.of.me]

17. now i'm dying to hear what you hear back!

i've never seen this happen, where the time changes. there is a LOT of sniping, though. i've lost stuff, and i've paid more than i should have with that last minute i'm-gonna-beat-you-buddy mentality/adrenalin rush.

please post any responses you get from the seller or ebay. it does look, though, like it's a 7 day listing ending tomorrow having started last sunday.

(p.s. - bra roll!? what is that?! do i have it?! do i need this video?!) lol

[Whoa_Nelly]

18. Post this at one of the eBay community discussion boards

After many years bidding and selling on eBay, have found using the discussion boards as a fast way to learn what I need to know. There are always eBay hired people online, as well as very seasoned eBay people, who usually can offer you info/advice that is right on.

You click on Post a Topic, and then you have to sign in with your eBay ID and password.

Hope this helps you out without having to wait days to get a response from the seller or eBay.

This one is about bidding:
http://forums.ebay.com/db1/forum.jspa?forumID=110

This one is about auction listings:
http://forums.ebay.com/db1/forum.jspa?forumID=102

[lovelaureng]

19. Sounds like an eBay fluke

on their end. I would let them know about it. This doesn't normally happen in an auction, whether there is a reserve price set or not.