[evanrmurphy]

Ebay's auction model includes a strict time limit that doesn't adjust for bidding. That is, if someone bids in the last few seconds of an auction, there's no increase in time as there would be in a traditional physical-space auction to allow others an opportunity to bid higher if they're interested. This leads to the whole phenomenon of auction sniping, which is pretty silly when you realize it's all the result of what's arguably a design flaw.

Imagine an auctioneer in real life implements this policy. "Going once for x. Going twice...." They begin mouthing the word "sold" when a competing bidder jumps in at x+1. The auctioneer proceeds as though nothing happened ("Sold!") except that the sniper wins ("For x+1...").

[evanrmurphy]

Currently investigating to see if I'm wrong about this - if eBay does actually have a dynamic time limit feature and I was just unaware of it.

[mslagh]

They don't, and I agree that it is flawed. But perhaps flawed is too strong of a word, and it's just that ebay auctions don't tend to mimic real-life auctions (and maybe there is a reason for the discrete time limits, ie sellers need to know exactly when items are ending; buyers are often time limited sometimes as well: 7 days often seems like an eternity anyways). Many of the up-and-coming penny auction sites include this feature, as it is much more necessary to their business model.

[evanrmurphy]

I think Ebay realized at some point that marketplaces are more profitable than auctions and adjusted their model accordingly. Now they're in this limbo between an auction site and a marketplace site but not great at either. They can afford this of course because they're a monopoly, but if I really want the experience of one or the other I'll use a service with clearer focus.

[evanrmurphy]

Out of curiosity, could someone explain why this comment was downvoted? Thanks.