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