Timed out , missed out

[Mike Muz]

Evening all slightly less retro heads

Just missed out on an M751 front mech on eBay , as my phone timed out ! WTF does that mean ?
Apart from me losing out . It went for £4 odd in the end . :facepalm:
I would have been the highest bidder too . And to top it all , my xray shifters are giving me grief too :roll:
Don't understand modern things , or as it turns out , old things either :facepalm:
Still at least I got out for 1 1/2hrs tonight
Rant over
Mike

 

[Wylie]

what phone were u using Mike? ...mind you if i'm keen on an auction, i almost always use my wired desktop. Phones can suck sometimes. I do appreciate that you may well have been at work / out at the time, which is unfortunate, but as i say on fleabay, "u win some, u lose some ...but u live to fight another day

 

[The History Man]

Snipe

 

[Mike Muz]

what phone were u using Mike? ...mind you if i'm keen on an auction, i almost always use my wired desktop. Phones can suck sometimes. I do appreciate that you may well have been at work / out at the time, which is unfortunate, but as i say on fleabay, "u win some, u lose some ...but u live to fight another day

Some Samsung thing , not one of those big jobs though . You know the sort , you need a bloody rucksack to carry the bugger !
Wish I'd had laptop on now , but I was fitting new shifters , brake levers , and V-Brakes at the time :roll:
You know how it is

Mike

 

[watanabe43]

Evening all slightly less retro heads

Just missed out on an M751 front mech on eBay , as my phone timed out ! WTF does that mean ?
Apart from me losing out . It went for £4 odd in the end . :facepalm:
I would have been the highest bidder too . And to top it all , my xray shifters are giving me grief too :roll:
Don't understand modern things , or as it turns out , old things either :facepalm:
Still at least I got out for 1 1/2hrs tonight
Rant over
Mike

When you try to access a webpage the server is only allowed a certain amount of time to fulfil the request, after which point the browser gives up, hence the 'timed out' message. It's not something you can change in a phone browser - were you using the eBay app or regular internet?

As to why it happened, eBay servers suck sometimes especially at 'peak' times but it's most likely down to your data connection - if not on wifi I'd never attempt to bid near the end of an auction unless I had a good 3G/HSPDA/4G signal. Tbh I never try and snipe anyway these days, just decide what I'm willing to pay ahead of time.

eBay app does help though.

 

[Mike Muz]

Re:

I was using WiFi
What does snipe mean?
And I'd already decided how much to bid some time before
Mike

 

[watanabe43]

Re:

Sniping just refers to bidding in the last few seconds in the hope other bidders won't have the chance to raise their bids.

To be honest, apart from the 'adrenaline rush' it's fairly pointless and tends to lead to over-bidding when the competition urge kicks in.

It's far better (imho) to research the item you want by doing a completed/sold items search first to determine what the item you want is actually worth/selling for then deciding the maximum you are willing to pay. Simply enter this amount and eBay takes care of the rest, effectively bidding for you until the ceiling is reached, a small amount at a time.

Let's say you want to buy a Thomson seatpost. A sold listings search shows they never go for more than around £35, but the best prices are around £25.

If you decide the most you will pay is £30 enter this your bid (it's often good to go for an odd number, say £31.24). If the highest bid already placed is £15, your bid will go to £16. Somebody then bids £20, your bid goes to £21 and so on. When somebody bids £30 in the last two seconds, you win, even if they bid the exact same amount as you

If someone bids £35 then you shrug and wait for the next one, smug in the knowledge you haven't overpaid. It's always worth looking for auctions that finish at an odd time when people are less likely to be looking or have badly worded/mispelled listings less likely to be picked up by other bidders' searches.

Apologies if I'm telling you what you already know, but simple tactics gets the bargains

 

[Mike Muz]

Re: Re:

Sniping just refers to bidding in the last few seconds in the hope other bidders won't have the chance to raise their bids.

To be honest, apart from the 'adrenaline rush' it's fairly pointless and tends to lead to over-bidding when the competition urge kicks in.

It's far better (imho) to research the item you want by doing a completed/sold items search first to determine what the item you want is actually worth/selling for then deciding the maximum you are willing to pay. Simply enter this amount and eBay takes care of the rest, effectively bidding for you until the ceiling is reached, a small amount at a time.

Let's say you want to buy a Thomson seatpost. A sold listings search shows they never go for more than around £35, but the best prices are around £25.

If you decide the most you will pay is £30 enter this your bid (it's often good to go for an odd number, say £31.24). If the highest bid already placed is £15, your bid will go to £16. Somebody then bids £20, your bid goes to £21 and so on. When somebody bids £30 in the last two seconds, you win, even if they bid the exact same amount as you

If someone bids £35 then you shrug and wait for the next one, smug in the knowledge you haven't overpaid. It's always worth looking for auctions that finish at an odd time when people are less likely to be looking or have badly worded/mispelled listings less likely to be picked up by other bidders' searches.

Apologies if I'm telling you what you already know, but simple tactics gets the bargains

That is what I normally do , but for some reason I couldn't do it on my phone . Only maximum bid . As I couldn't get to the computer as Mrs Muz was busy on it , I tried on win the bid the only way I could .
Mike

 

[watanabe43]

Re:

Ah, the joys of technology

 

[The History Man]

Since I've been sniping (GIXEN) my success rate has increased considerably. I recommended it as it's a good way to stick to your maximum without showing your hand early.

The GIXEN server has never failed to place my bid if it was still viable..

Stops any drunken bidding too!