ebay countdown clock wrong

[fusi0nist]

hello

A few times in the past week i have noticed the ebay count down claims to be

for example 18.29 and is counting down from a reasonably fresh search,  but the atomic clock is 18.30.

And so the buyer waits for the last 10 seconds or so to bid,  but the auction ends 1 min before.

yet on the search page, there is the search result  still counting down, yet the auction page is over.

not good for buyers, sellers , or ebay, perhaps , for now.  As i was going to bid higher.

even on this page your contnet was last saved 18.39 but it is now just turned 18.38

[eburtonlab]

If your auction countdown is not behaving correctly, check to make sure your computer's time and time zone are set correctly, and the date and time are synchronized with an internet time server such as time.windows.com or time.nist.gov.

Check your computer's time here:

https://time.is/

If your computer's time is not synchronized, that can cause problems with the countdown and with bidding at the end of an auction.

[fusi0nist]

thank you

I had an issue with linux. but all is well now.  i lost the page i was on, but it was something to do with ntp timesync.

Time is exact now.

thank you again

All the best.

[eburtonlab]

You are very welcome -- good luck with future bids!

[bibliophilus]

I've had more or less the same problem recently: the ebay countdown timer is between 30s and 45s out of synch with the actual time, so I've repeatedly though an auction was over, only to be beaten by someone else later, without me realising and being able to up my bid. Very poor functionality by eBay. My computer's clock is perfectly correct by the way.

[eburtonlab]

My computer's clock is perfectly correct by the way.

How do you know your clock is perfectly correct? Is that what it actually says at the top of the page when you go here?

https://time.is/

If your computer's time is not synchronized, time could appear to be correct to the nearest minute, but if it is actually ahead or behind by thirty or forty seconds that can cause problems with the countdown and with bidding in the last thirty or forty seconds of an auction.

Even if your clock appears to be correct now, if it is not synchronized, it may not stay correct for long.

I've repeatedly though an auction was over, only to be beaten by someone else later, without me realising and being able to up my bid.

If you are already bidding your maximum, you do not have to worry about bidding again.

There is no point bidding any amount less than your maximum; that just means you can be outbid and lose for an amount you were otherwise willing to pay... for no reason.