day auctions?

[a45heaven]

Have ebay finally discovered Daylight Saving Time, or simply another in a vast line of platform errors?

item listed as a 7 day listing, Time Left shows as  7d 40m.

Was it a major step for man kind when the caveman learned to communicate.

[thesmokingrunner]

Most probably all due to British Summer Time ending at 0200 next Sunday (27th Ocotber), a45heaven: the clocks go back 1 hour, therefore a 7-day listing starting after 0200 today will actually be live for 7 days and 1 hour when it ends.

A horological vagary, that's all. The reverse happens every March when an item listing which is active when BST begins will be live for one hour less.

[a45heaven]

thanks for your comments and thoughts - im leaning toward BST - ive never noticed a 8 day listing before and ive always had Sunday listings week in week out- shame when you have to guess whats happening.

[thesmokingrunner]

You're welcome a45heaven.

It is not possible to have an 8-day listing though - auction listings durations are 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 days. Your listing isn't an 8-day listing - it is a 7-day-plus-1-hour listing and that is solely because you submitted a listing which ends after 0200 next Sunday.

Any listing which is live at 0200 next Sunday will, in effect, have an extra hour of visibility.

[a45heaven]

It was just odd to see 7d 40m on a 7 day listing.

have an extra hour of visibility.

Shhhhhhhh - theyll be wanting extra fees for it 😉

[wellingnorth]

I noticed this as well, previously it's always been that your auction lasted the same number of hours whereas now it's showing as 7 days plus one hour. It must either be a bug or a change so that the finish time matches the start time. By this logic when the clocks go forward the auctions would last 6 days and  23 hours.

If it is a change I can't see any announcement about it, - the listing duration page below still refers to the old approach

'Listings that run during a daylight saving time-change will still receive the full amount of the listing duration. For example, if you have a 1-day listing that starts at 1pm on Saturday, and the daylight saving time spring transition occurs that Saturday evening, the listing will end at 2pm on Sunday.'

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/listings/selecting-listing-duration?id=4652

[alvisinwales]

Auctions have always been for a multiple of 24 hours.

Can somebody please give the item number of one of these listings so I can have a look at it.

[wellingnorth]

---

@alvisinwales wrote:

Auctions have always been for a multiple of 24 hours.

Can somebody please give the item number of one of these listings so I can have a look at it.

---

Try a search for anything, sort by newly listed and look at the top link.

For example from a search for shoes just picking at random

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176638962624

The search page shows the start time as 20-Oct 19:36

Item page currently says Ends in 7d 0h 27/10, 19:36

[alvisinwales]

So it is. That's something new then.

<StartTime>
2024-10-20T18:36:06.000Z
</StartTime>
<EndTime>
2024-10-27T19:36:06.000Z
</EndTime>

[ett1954]

As you correctly stated auctions have always run for a full day (24 hours) and it always been down to the seller to make the necessary adjustment for changes to GMT and BST.

"It must either be a bug or a change so that the finish time matches the start time." - why should that be a surprise.  eBay don't announce these changes because they are probably unaware of what is going to happen.  Remember the debacle earlier this year when eBay 'forgot' February has 29 days in a leap year which caused chaos with the BiN listings ending a day early the following month.

Every seller is all too aware that they cannot estimate delivery dates correctly as they appear to be unaware of certain public holidays in the UK, even though the dates are available a year or more in advance.

eBay coding contains a mish-mash of inconsistencies.  Who is aware that when you create a scheduled listing the 24 hour clock is in place to set the time - no problem there; the 24 hour clock is recognised internationally.  When you check the schedule listing page it gives the starting time in am or pm time - no big deal you say.  However, should you set a schedule for say 14:00 (2 p.m.)  if you then go into the reschedule option it shows the time being set at 02:00 (2 a.m.).  It doesn't actually mean 2 a.m., it will still start at 14:00 - it just in typical eBay fashion creates confusion.  It begs the question; why are there 2 different time settings in play on the site anyway - it only needs one, whichever it may be.

It gives the impression that developers are just given a free hand to do things however they wish.  There is obviously no standard protocols or specifications set for developers to use.  It also shows there is no effective leadership in this critical area of the platforms functionality.

I have over 20 auctions scheduled for listing tonight taking next week's time change into account.  After reading the OP's post heaven knows when these will actually finish next Sunday night but I will stay with the system I have always used ......... but be prepared for the worst.  Every day is a challenge on eBay.