4 ms·

> each bid adds ten seconds to the countdown which gives other bidders the time to counter your bid. Why has eBay never implemented this behavior?

by pkamb 10y ago

zaroth 10y ago
I've always wondered this. I assume it's because it causes at least a 10x increase in server load by changing the bid and reload dynamics, and with so many auctions going on at once it would have a material effect on their systems. So instead you are supposed to use the 'reserve' feature and not DDoS them. Also, I think they found most people really don't want to spend all day sitting in front of a screen trying to buy something. 'Buy It Now' was a really big deal for eBay, it makes up an increasingly large percentage of their revenue. [1] [1] - https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/i1sfM8mxJpcg/v1/-1x-1.jpg https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/i1sfM8mxJpc...
dragonwriter 10y ago
> Why has eBay never implemented this behavior? Because it discourages people from bidding the maximum price they are willing to bid up front, increases the sensitivity of the whole system to short-term communication problems, and denies both bidders and sellers a firm end-time. It really only makes sense if you are running a system which is designed to make money off the number of bids, and which artificially restricts bidding to maximize the number of bids.
thescriptkiddie 10y ago
Because counter-bidding does not exist on eBay. eBay uses a second-price auction system. Each bidder is allowed only a single bid, which reflects the absolute maximum that they are willing to pay. The highest bidder wins the auction, but only pays as much as the second highest bid. The value of the actual highest bid is kept secret, so the "current bid" displayed on the site is actually the second highest. If you try to win an auction by outbidding the "current bid" by 1 cent at the last second, you will succeed only in becoming the second highest bidder and pushing the price that the actual highest bidder has to pay up by 1 cent.
- ac29 10y ago
  >Each bidder is allowed only a single bid Its been a while since I bid in an eBay auction, but this is or was definitely not the case. If you were outbid, you could bid more.
  - grkvlt 10y ago
    Well, technically you are just changing the amount of your existing bid. This is not really a useful distinction for eBay on its own, but is when looking at other auctions where number of bids has an effect on the result.

> each bid adds ten seconds to the countdown which gives other bidders the time to counter your bid. Why has eBay never implemented this behavior?

by pkamb 10y ago

> each bid adds ten seconds to the countdown which gives other bidders the time to counter your bid. Why has eBay never implemented this behavior?

zaroth 10y ago

I've always wondered this. I assume it's because it causes at least a 10x increase in server load by changing the bid and reload dynamics, and with so many auctions going on at once it would have a material effect on their systems. So instead you are supposed to use the 'reserve' feature and not DDoS them. Also, I think they found most people really don't want to spend all day sitting in front of a screen trying to buy something. 'Buy It Now' was a really big deal for eBay, it makes up an increasingly large percentage of their revenue. [1] [1] - https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/i1sfM8mxJpcg/v1/-1x-1.jpg https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/i1sfM8mxJpc...

dragonwriter 10y ago

> Why has eBay never implemented this behavior? Because it discourages people from bidding the maximum price they are willing to bid up front, increases the sensitivity of the whole system to short-term communication problems, and denies both bidders and sellers a firm end-time. It really only makes sense if you are running a system which is designed to make money off the number of bids, and which artificially restricts bidding to maximize the number of bids.

thescriptkiddie 10y ago

Because counter-bidding does not exist on eBay. eBay uses a second-price auction system. Each bidder is allowed only a single bid, which reflects the absolute maximum that they are willing to pay. The highest bidder wins the auction, but only pays as much as the second highest bid. The value of the actual highest bid is kept secret, so the "current bid" displayed on the site is actually the second highest. If you try to win an auction by outbidding the "current bid" by 1 cent at the last second, you will succeed only in becoming the second highest bidder and pushing the price that the actual highest bidder has to pay up by 1 cent.

ac29 10y ago
>Each bidder is allowed only a single bid Its been a while since I bid in an eBay auction, but this is or was definitely not the case. If you were outbid, you could bid more.
- grkvlt 10y ago
  Well, technically you are just changing the amount of your existing bid. This is not really a useful distinction for eBay on its own, but is when looking at other auctions where number of bids has an effect on the result.