Ebay outrage: wrench win reversed >5 min later??

[cookefab]

No, I didn't get sniped - at least not in any conventional sense...I placed an opening minimum bid on an oddball wrench ($3) that I had saved in my watch list. The listing was for 7 days, and I placed my bid w/ the Android app on my phone @ the 2 min mark. The listing closed, uncontested, and showed my Ebay user name, in full, as the winner...I then watched as my user name went to partial mask - i.e. w***n - still as the winner. The header then showed the "You have not paid for this item" in red... At that point, I have always considered myself good to go... I then checked a few other watched items, went back to wrench listing that I'd won - all good. I left the app open as I made a cup of coffee, (Keurig - like 2 min..), switched the screen to "bidding, won, not won", and...no wrench listing.
Back to "watched items, ended", opened listing and now there's 2 bids and I'm not the winner...I check "Bid History" and it shows winning bid, $0.25 higher @ 7 seconds!

I watched the countdown from 30 seconds, as I always do, and watched the win allocation to the red header...! WTF?

Anyone have this happen? And is there any recourse? Yes, I'm mad, even though it was a <$7.00 transaction, due to way screwy circumstances.

Sorry, rant over... Sorry Mods if this might be in the wrong location - but, it is related to purchasing tools...

 

[Skin]

try a computer and stick to using your phone for calling people. Your app messed up plain and simple. And the amount they won over your bid doesn't matter, that amount will be whatever ebay required to take the new high bidder meaning its absolutely no representation of what they actually put in as a high bid.

 

[Super Sport]

I've seen the app do some weird things like that. I don't think it updates/refreshes properly, thus showing you the winner when in fact somebody else got a bid in.

 

[archirelic]

Same thing happened to me not too long ago on a wrench set. Needless to say, I now stick to placing those last second bids from my computer.

 

[cookefab]

So, it's the app...and my 2-bars reception @ home probably doesn't help...
I kind of knew it...but it was so convenient. Damn it...

Computer it is... Thanks, gentlemen...

 

[Jomo]

Conclusion: Always use the right tool for the job.

 

[NHBandit]

I often have a different strategy since I know I can be a sucker and fall into that "need to win" trap and over pay. I bid the maximum amount I'm willing to pay for an item up front and turn off the computer and go find something else to do. Sometimes I get a pleasant surprise and find that I've won the item at a much lower price and sometimes I lose but I never pay more than what I think something is worth. If I get beat it just wasn't meant to be. Of course this all goes out the window if it's something I "need" that's extremely hard to find. In those cases I'm guilty of sitting at the keyboard fevereshly hitting refresh every 3 seconds until the bitter end..

 

[kc-steve]

Who knows, with all the spyware and malware out there these days it could have been that also. I've always used a desktop with several solid proactive anti-virus programs. Broadcasting your "secrets" out in space might have also caused the problem, but like I said, who knows.

Steve

 

[cookefab]

I often have a different strategy since I know I can be a sucker and fall into that "need to win" trap and over pay. I bid the maximum amount I'm willing to pay for an item up front and turn off the computer and go find something else to do. Sometimes I get a pleasant surprise and find that I've won the item at a much lower price and sometimes I lose but I never pay more than what I think something is worth. If I get beat it just wasn't meant to be. Of course this all goes out the window if it's something I "need" that's extremely hard to find. In those cases I'm guilty of sitting at the keyboard fevereshly hitting refresh every 3 seconds until the bitter end..

Yeah, this kind of falls into that "hard-to-find/need" catagory...I should have just bid my max value of the item, and left it alone. I think my issue was that the seller took one crappy pic of that wrench, and didn't respond to my question...but he was only asking $3 for the opening bid, cheap parcel post shipping, and there were only 3 page views @ the 5 minute mark...

Either way, my bad...FWIW, the item was one of the BP wrenches I'm seeking in my sig line below...

 

[Packard V8]

eBay, like life has it's lessons. Some of us have to learn the lessons the hard way. X10 on just putting in the max bid and walking away.

jack vines

 

[IndyGarage]

You made two mistakes.

1. you didn't put in your max bid.

2. You put in a bid with more than 20 seconds until the end of the auction. 10 seconds is even better. If you bid with a few seconds left, no one can bid against your bid. They can still beat you if they bid higher, but they cannot see your bid and bid against it.

If you do these two things, your winning percentage will go way up.

I think it's very strange if you saw a screen that showed you as the winner. Now if you said you saw a screen that showed you as the high bidder and the clock was past then end of the auction, then I would just call that a timing difference between your clock and the Ebay server clock - I could see this happening, especially since the other bid came in with 7 seconds to go.

 

[Outlawmws]

Real Simple Solution: use BidNip. tell 'elm I sent you (I get 5 credits just for getting someone to try it and you get 5 free to "test it out" (PM me for my Email)

I've been using BN for years now without issues...

And BTW you cannot rely on third party SW to give accurate info on bidding as Eprey is deliberately goofing with things to F^%& that up for "the competition"

 

[motorheadsdiygarage]

I bid on ebay from my iphone and it came back as "an error has occurred" and I lost the bid. I wasn't very happy I think its a glitch with the app.

 

[HaroRider]

Thats the reason I never bid on my phone for last minute things.

I trust my computer will refresh in time, but I dont trust my phone will.

 

[Stephenw]

eBay app on my iPhone 5 works great. I usually place a bid for the maximum I am willing to pay with 6 or 7 seconds left. Make sure you are connected to a wifi or have a strong cellular signal.

If it is an item you cannot lose, place your bid a few minutes before the auction closes.

 

[cookefab]

You made two mistakes.

1. you didn't put in your max bid.

2. You put in a bid with more than 20 seconds until the end of the auction. 10 seconds is even better. If you bid with a few seconds left, no one can bid against your bid. They can still beat you if they bid higher, but they cannot see your bid and bid against it.

If you do these two things, your winning percentage will go way up.

I think it's very strange if you saw a screen that showed you as the winner. Now if you said you saw a screen that showed you as the high bidder and the clock was past then end of the auction, then I would just call that a timing difference between your clock and the Ebay server clock - I could see this happening, especially since the other bid came in with 7 seconds to go.

My winning percentage is 82%...that's what set me off! Nevertheless, I'm @ fault for trusting a smart phone app, w/ **** reception to boot...

 

[cookefab]

Real Simple Solution: use BidNip. tell 'elm I sent you (I get 5 credits just for getting someone to try it and you get 5 free to "test it out" (PM me for my Email)

I've been using BN for years now without issues...

And BTW you cannot rely on third party SW to give accurate info on bidding as Eprey is deliberately goofing with things to F^%& that up for "the competition"

I'll be looking into it tonight...thanks!