eBay app issue- says I won, then minutes later says I didn't

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I have had this happen three times now. Twice I won and then got outbid AFTER the item closed. Once I won but after winning the price went up two minutes later.

I GOT THE GREEN BAR AT THE TOP EACH TIME SAYING "CONGRATULATIONS, YOU WON THE ITEM!"

I know all about sniping at the last second. That is how I bid. So I am well aware you can be outbid at the last second, but this goes beyond that. It said in green, "Congratulations, you won the item." I went to pay, but the "pay now" button did not appear. I reload. Same thing- still says I won. I close and reopen the app; Still won, same price, no pay button. Suddenly it either says I did not win, or I still won, but the price went up- in this most recent case it jumped from $70 to $171. Ack!!! In this case there was at least two minutes that it said I won. I reloaded, logged out and in, STILL said I won for $70. Then it suddenly said $171. I had a max bid of $180 so this time I still won. In two other cases it went from "congratulations, you won" in green at the top to "sorry, you did not win" in Orange at the top. Clearly somewhere out there it is still taking bids even though it says I won, then it changes from won to didn't win or increases the winning bid. That's a big problem!

I reported to eBay. Am I alone in this problem? It happened on both iPhone and iPad app.

[Myk Rian]

Take screenshots and send them to Ebay to complain.

[Steve Peterson]

It seems like EBay displays scripts on your window to reduce network traffic. I was marginally interested in an item once and placed an early low bid. A few other people outbid me. I was watching the countdown timer and received a "Sorry, got away" email with around 10 seconds left on the counter. My screen was out of sync with the EBay timer. Maybe next time I will do a screen refresh near the end of the auction.

Steve

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I thought about that. I keep refreshing my screen, and I looked at the iPhone and the iPad and they both showed the same times. I can see how it might get out of synch, but I am surprised that it would give you a "congratulations, you won the item" message without first verifying with the host. Next time I bid it will not be from the app.

[Pat Barry]

I can see the scenario Steve described as happening but not the one Malcolm described. Something is wrong for sure and Ebay needs to fix that. Too bad you don't have the evidence to show them but they should none the less have records of the bidding for every item to figure this out.

[Dan Hintz]

I don't know the app, but... if the app makes the win/no-win determination based upon the last high bid being yours, a lack of timely updates from eBay central would show it as yours. Once the app receives bidding updates, it changes its mind. If so, it's not a real-time app and you should probably only use it for items that don't require sniping.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I always thought the app was real-time because it gives you a countdown. I guess that works off your phone's clock and not ebay's clock. That sucks. I still do not see how it could say I won without verifying with the server.

Anyway, I did report it. I was wondering if anyone else has had this happen to them.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Okay folks- explain this! I pulled up my ebay and the item I bought, right side of the screen, is counting down as if it is still open for bids. I got a screenshot with one second left. This item closed 43+ hours ago. 299886

[Dan Hintz]

Is this app directly from eBay or someone else? If someone else, dump the app.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

This is the eBay app from eBay.

[Brian Elfert]

Personally, I would be sticking with the website if I was having so many problems with the app.