7 hour listing delay because of indexing!!?!!!!!!!!?!!!!

"Certain categories" (those subject to listings of counterfeit items or hijacked accounts) are being delayed so software can review if they are legitimate or not. This has been going on for some time.

I can understand that but the time it takes to review the listings detracts from the listing time. So, its hard to plan.

Hi, as I understood the problem you lose up to 7 hours but the end time is what you would expect e.g. 7 or 10 days after posting so that you do not need to allow for this delay.

Therefore as most bidding seems to occur in the closing minutes is it really a problem ?

Unfortunately someone has to tackle fraud on eBay and the only ones who can do that are eBay although I must admit these time delays do appear to be excessive.

You have a point. I never listed in these categories before so this was new to me.

I'm finding that all of my listings take over 6 hours lately. I list mostly books which aren't a high fraud item. I believe I loose a lot of views from people who search under newly listed because I loose that prime viewing time. If I start a listing at 7:00PM or 8:00Pm so that it ends at that time, then I lose the evening viewing time for those checking for newly listed.

booklady

Hi, I know I'm late in this discussion, but I sell used items which are not fraud type items.Things I listed are still not up after 3 hrs.

Hi - I'm afraid a 6 hour delay is pretty common for everyone on ebay now regardless of type of item or category. These delays have been going on for well over a year and are mostly due to indexing, not just fraud checking. All you can do is check that a listing shows up on your 'my ebay' page to confirm that it has been posted, then check the search results after 6 hours(and I mean 6 hours to the minute!) to make sure it shows up there. Ebay acknowledges even longer delays of 12 hours or more are 'normal'. This is not Auctiva's fault, it's an ebay problem.

I just started using Auctiva today. I am also experiencing the indexing delay problem. Therefore, it is fair that everyone is losing viewers on the first day, isn't it? Anyway, I set my auctions to end in 10 days, so losing the first day's viewers never bother me. I believe it is what day (of the week) and time the closing is set that matters.

Yep kk, that's the way I see it too

All your activity is typically on the last day, during the last hour, so why worry about it?

It's definitely an ebay problem. In the past I've had listings take OVER 12 HOURS to become searchable. Ridiculous. Funny, since I've become a (cough) "powerseller" they show up instantly. Go figure!

quote:

Originally posted by JeffS:
All your activity is typically on the last day, during the last hour, so why worry about it?

Not for me.

What if you don't list many auctions? My listings are 95% BINs, and most typically have very few listings when you search for them - generally only 1 page worth. I am basically missing out on several hours of prime selling time (Sunday evenings) because of eBay's indexing delays.

Even though auction listings see the most bidding activity toward the end of the auction, they tend to pick up a certain number of watchers at the beginning from buyers searching by "newly listed". If your auction doesn't show up until late at night, you've lost the prime exposure time for this. By the following evening, when most people are looking again, you are no longer a new listing, but are probably buried in the mix. So yes, the 6 hour delay can indeed hurt an auction style listing. Fewer watchers means fewer potential bidders, and thus lower prices on average. BIN's are even more impacted due to the nature of the buying process.

I just started using Auctiva. Might just be me, but I've noticed it takes longer for my stuff to show up in a search than it does listing through TL or eBay. I've never had a delay problem until now. But if they started your time left when it was actually up and in searches, it would throw your end time off. I try to plan my auctions to end in the evenings, if time was delayed then they would end in the middle of the night with no bidding war at the last few minutes! I think any lost exposure time does hurt, doesn't matter when activity takes place. I'm sure there are dedicated shoppers that check by new items listed almost daily! Anyway, there's probably no solution to this and will always be a complaint among sellers...

But I am liking Auctiva!

Hi KickinMule - The delay does not affect the end time of your auction, ie a 7 day auction will end 7 days after the auction is posted, not 7 days after it shows up in search results.- so it is still possible to set up the exact end time of your auction.

I am new to Auctiva also, and have been having the same lag time problems. I listed one item directly through Ebay and the item was posted within 10 minutes. I came back to Auctiva and listed another item and waited 7 hours for posting by Ebay. I am starting to think that since Ebay is losing money with Auctiva auctions they purposely put them aside and wait for posting. Is this possible?

May be, but if you schedule through eBay and pay their fees it is technically possible for them to index them before they go live. That of course is not possible when they are scheduled from a 3rd party site like Auctiva because eBay has no knowledge of them until they actually arrive from Auctiva.

I would also expect they would give preferential treatment to those that pay their fees.

Paying eBay fees is too high a cost for preferential treatment. eBay has gotten too greedy and a seller of mainly small-ticket items is lucky to break even. There are other sites that are growing daily competing with eBay so their monopoly won't last forever. It is time for them to step back on the fees.

So is Auctiva doing anything to solicit ebay to change their ways? I've had items scheduled to start at 7 p.m. I got a confirmation e-mail from ebay that my item was posted at that time. However the "start time" was at 1 in the morning and it did not show up till the next day. Needless to say, I did not sell that item. I missed the prime time both ways. This happens when I start items instantly in Auctiva or have them scheduled. Seems like ebay is not doing themselves any favors, an unsold item or one that doesn't get maximum bids hurts their bottom line more than loosing the 10 cent scheduling fee. What is everyone else doing to get around this nonsense? I've been using Auctiva to list store items when I have time to do the listings, and then sending them to an on-line auction in ebay when i want them to start. I wish I didn't have to do that. Joyce

I'm new here too and didn't understand the delay thing either. I too am disturbed by the start time of my listing verses the listing time. I do try to keep in mind I'm on Eastern Standard Time and Ebay is on the west coast. That's a 3 hour time difference. Regardless, the 7 hour lagg causes my adds to miss out on the "New Listings" lookers. . .So the only other option is to list directly with Ebay, which would cost me additional money due to pictures. It's a lose, lose situation! Who's getting rich here?

They take the same whether listed here or eBay. Recently about 6+ hours.

They do show in "New Listings" though. eBay said they'd show there even when their site is slow and it takes 6+ hours. Once they add them to search they show in the New Listings section.

How many hours do they post as "New Listings"? Does the 6-7 hours for indexing decrease the time they can be viewed as "New"?

booklady

I believe new listings show as new for 3 hours.

quote:

Originally posted by tammyfox:
...the 7 hour lagg causes my adds to miss out on the "New Listings" lookers.

Even though the delayed listing shows up at the top of the search results as a "New Listing", its appearance occurs late at night, so it doesn't help that much. By the time the next prime viewing period occurs the following day, your listing has probably been buried in the mix.

Ebay needs to devise a system to correct the problems created by this delay, one that allows you schedule your listing so that it appears during prime time, while still ending during prime time, or any other time selected by you. I'm sure they could do it if they really cared enough.

Maybe people should start calling there attorney general and complain. You are paying for 7 days not 6 1/2 days.

I have found most bids and certainly the serious ones come within the closing minute so for listings of 5 days or more who cares ?

quote:

Originally posted by ChooChooGuy:
I have found most bids and certainly the serious ones come within the closing minute so for listings of 5 days or more who cares ?

Correcto mundo, however early "new listing" exposure does tend to pick up some watchers and even some early bidding, which, hopefully, will tend to drive up the final price. Loss of prime time certainly dampens this potential activity.

It seems like BINs however are the most seriously affected by loss of prime time exposure because buyers tend to jump on a BIN early to secure the purchase, rather than waiting until the end of an auction.

quote:

Originally posted by ChooChooGuy:
I have found most bids and certainly the serious ones come within the closing minute so for listings of 5 days or more who cares ?

I care
If you list an auction for 3 days you miss one prime night. if you pay for 10 days you miss one prime night.
remember people complained to the Attorney gereral before and they took action against Ebay and ebay had to return the fees they were double charging you. If no one cared we still would be paying that double fee. Ebay is shorting you 8 hours of of being on the web.

If eBay cared then they would charge an insertion fee that was also based on duration, pro-rata for 1,3,5,7 or 10 days !!

This problem has been going on for more than a year with many hundreds of complaints on the ebay forums and shows no evidence of improving, yet the best ebay has been able to come up with is treating the delayed listing as a new listing, which still shows up in the middle of the night, and a big explanation about fraud control. Hardly more than a bandaid, yet plenty of other foo-foo "improvements". Yeh, they really care.

I believe there is a class action lawsuit over this where some sellers are suing eBay.

That should bring some resolution one way or another. Or at least let eBay know how displeased sellers are.

Chiming in w/ my 2 cents (which just happens to be about what I profit on any given auction)....

1. My auctions for NON-name brands-- many vintage garments with NO LABEL or modern stuff from Walmart/Kmart. And taking up to 12 hours to show up.

2. I WILL complain to the Attorney General as we truly are being ripped off--we pay for 7 days exposure--doesn't matter WHEN the bids come--it's the exposure we pay for!! If we're not getting it--we shouldn't be charged until the listing actually shows up!

((Does the newspaper charge for your classified ad the minute you call it in? NO! They charge for the actual number of days it appears!))

3. Ebay IS NOT STOPPING ANY FRAUD that I can see--check it yourself!.....There are thousands of OBVIOUS & BLATANT replica garments listed as: MARC, DVF, PALLY, JUICY, GUCCI, COACH, & even bigger names that have NO labels in the garment at all or have "similar" looking labels OR we're told in the auction that it's made by a seamstress or boutique--but they have the designer name in the title. Even, little ole ME can see these are OBVIOUS copies!! eBay is just fining honest sellers for nothing--just because they can.

I personally think they're just back there making personal calls, updating their myspace pages, having cocktails, going to lunch, fraternizing & laughing at us... while our auctions are being 'indexed.'

I was told tonight the delay was because of Auctivas scrolling banner is added after the item has been posted. So technically the item has been revised and thus takes 6-8 hours or more for the item to list. I posted 4 things tonight using some expensive listing upgrades for added exposure and complained enough to get $20 in listing fees credited back to me, so I felt pretty good about that.

quote:

Originally posted by EVOFan:
I was told tonight the delay was because of Auctivas scrolling banner is added after the item has been posted. So technically the item has been revised and thus takes 6-8 hours or more for the item to list.

Hi EVOFan - The problem with this theory is that my listings have consistantly taken 6 hours to-the-minute to index, and I haven't been using the scrolling window. It also doesn't explain the many hundreds of complaints on the ebay boards about the long delays, complaints that have been ongoing for over a year. These posters can't all be Auctiva members.

Hi. I read on one of the eBay boards about the scrolling gallery causing a delay. I started out not using it, then used it, and now have it on some and not on others depending on how I feel at the time. lol No difference in index time, so that's not it.

Every single auction takes 8-12 hours to get "indexed" with only one exception. I asked on the Auction board what it has to do with Auctiva and was told to come and ask here.

So I guess it's just perfectly "normal"?

I know when it gets indexed, it does show up in newly listed at the top. I didn't know for how long until reading it here. My problem with that is with the end time when I want, it shows up in the wee hours of the morning. I've tested it with listing earlier, settling for a not-so-desirable end time, just to get it seen. Sure enough, the watchers and bids come at what I consider ideal times... the actual time I'd like it indexed as well as ending.

So if we want it seen in the evening, we get six evenings when paying for a seven day auction.

Such is life, I suppose. I still don't like it.

Hi SolelySucculent

"So if we want it seen in the evening, we get six evenings when paying for a seven day auction."

That's why I always use 10 day listings and it costs the same

Really? I thought 10 day listings cost extra.

Thanks! I've wanted to do 10 days several times but didn't want to pay extra. I'll check that out.

Referring to ladybug_fabrics post above (30 September 2007) looking around at the tools available for bulk uploading to other online auctions Auctiva is pure luxury.(even more so as it is free).

Scheduling via eBay is to me another excessive expense when bulk listing.

Unfortunately from the UK I see little other options available, there are other auction sites with much lower or even free insertion fees. But the sale rate of sellers seems very low so they could still work out more expensive especially when you can still end up paying store based subscriptions.

Considering my own website now for the equivelent of SIF and BIN's.

That's why I always use 10 day listings and it costs the same

It costs 40 cents extra for the 10 day duration.