delay in listings appearing on Ebay

Hi are they items likely to be vetted by eBay ?

And when does most bidding take place, I find it is generally in the last day and even seconds, so missing 6 hours annoying as it is may not be that much of a problem.

Ebay puts a hold on some auctions in order to verify authenticity. I sell currency and lose three to four hours at the beginning of every auction...but like Choo Choo said, the majority of my bids come in the last few minutes.

I'm experiencing the same problem. Actually to the point I'm considering no longer using Auctiva. At first my auctions were delayed a couple hours. Ok I can live with that but last week it was 6 hours and this week it's 4. I don't believe it has anything to do with eBay holding back auctions for their vero program.

The category I sell in has most people searching on "newly listed". While I'm not losing a bid per se I am losing watchers and potiential bidders. My sales category has thousands of items so to lose 6 hours of being on the first page of newly listed items is a big problem.

Does anyone know if Auctiva is working on this?

Hi, Debscraps, you really need to directly file a support request with Auctiva.

However depending on how new you are to eBay (profile count#) and what you are selling and for how much, and quantity, they (eBay) are most likely to be the problem.

I can see the problem if buyers are searching by newly listed but that infers you need not worry about end dates but trickle items out every day using free scheduling so even if items are 7 hours late yours will still be top of the list.

It really is down to your perceived customer base habits and only you know that with respect to your wares.

By the way you weren't trying to list during the Friday morning (GMT) maintenance period or Sunday evenings were you ?

I read somewhere that they adjust the newly listed to start when the auction goes live..Unfortunatly, it may not be during desired viewing times.

This problem of long delays of listings showing up in search results is a long-running ebay problem. A thread on the ebay boards regarding this same issue was started over a year ago and now is up to 750 posts. Ebay has a lot more problems with their search function than delays, and the problems come and go constantly. I can not believe that all these posters are listing from Auctiva, so why is everyone so quick to blame Auctiva for these delays when no one really knows who, or what, is to blame? Just because some ebay rep says the problem is with third-party listing services doesn't make it so by any means, especially given ebay's own acknowlegement of a "normal" delay of up to 24 hours due to indexing, vetting, etc. Just read the ebay boards for perspective on this issue.

Debscraps, ebay says that they now show a listing as "newly listed" when it appears in search, with the time it actually shows up in search, rather than the time when it was actually posted. This is so your listing goes to the top of the list when sorted by "newly listed",regardless of the delay. Before this new change, it would usually get buried in the mix because of the delay. This appears to be ebays only observable nod to sellers' complaints about this situation. Or for that matter, sellers' complaints about anything.

Of course this doesn't fully compensate for the loss of 6 or however many hours, but it helps considerably. My feeling is that, in light of this significant change, an extra 6 hours or so lost in the sparcely visited "dead zone" between "newly listed", where you pick up many of your watchers, and "ending soonest" where most of the bidding takes place, probably isn't going to help that much anyway. It may not make monetary sense to abandon the many perks of Auctiva for such a dubious gain, especially when it may not even be Auctiva's fault in the first place.

Hi ninth, in my short spell contributing here it amazes me how many new starters try and do everything at once without building experience and then blame Auctiva for their problems.

But still when a company claims their software is easy to use then this is likely to happen.

Well, I am impressed with Auctiva and their support and find working with them by supplying constructive input when I do have to file a support request well worth the effort.

Hi Choo - You are right. Sure Auctiva has its glitches, but folks need to keep this in perspective. All you have to do is read the ebay boards to see all the people that are having problems making ebay work for them as well. You can't expect a thing as incredibly complex as software and the internet, that is constantly in a state of rapid flux and development, to not have problems. It's a wonder it works at all.

There are many, many people that are using Auctiva with few problems at all once they learn how to use it. Many of the problems I'm seeing posted are user problems. I hate to sound like I'm lecturing, but it's obvious to me that a lot of these problems would not exist if people would just read the tutorials, and other notes and instructions first. I'm not saying a lot of the problems aren't Auctiva's, but as you say, when they are, support is usually very responsive to the service requests. Try getting the same level of help from ebay.

Hi ninth wave and ChooChooGuy,

I appreciate your feedback and you raise some valid points. I don't know where the problem lies, is it an Auctiva issue or an eBay issue? What I do know however, is that I have been selling on eBay for years. Only recently (2 months ago) did I sign up for Auctiva and the problem has only surface since using Auctiva. So of course those darn assumptions....

I will attempt to resolve this issue before abandoning Auctiva because I do love the services and heck the price is right! :-)

Hi Debscraps. If you read the eBay General Announcements in your My eBay, the April 9th announcement talks about delaying listings. It has been since then that I noticed more delays. I don't think the delays have anything to do with Auctiva.

Well.. it's always nice to come here and find one's in the same company.. even if it is in disparity.. I thought I was being singled out. rtrichdick.. the same thing has been happening to me for about 4 weeks now. I have discussed the issue several times with chat reps and written countless messages to various eBay departments.. to no avail.. everyone either gives me a "canned" answer, a non-answer, or simply ignores me.

The fact that you're saying 6 hours.. struck a chord with me.. for me.. it's always to the minute. I'll give you a made-up example with fabricated times to make my point..

Let's say yesterday (Fri) at 4:21 PM I submitted a 7-day auction auction through Auctiva. It posts with a successful acknowledgement and if I switch over to my "My eBay" page I CAN see it in my listings immediately. If I look at the auction.. it is ALSO scheduled to end NEXT Friday.. correctly at 4:21 PM. However.. if I browse/navigate TO the actual category the item is listed in.. it won't be there in any way, shape or form.. even under the default sorting of "items newly listed". 6 hours later.. exactly to the minute.. as in 10:21 PM.. my listing shows up at the top of the category and is labeled as having been "newly listed" at 10:21 PM.. even though the END time still stays true to the original listing time of 4:21 PM.

What's especially disheartening is that back at 4:21 PM.. I COULD see dozens of listings popping up as having been just listed with matching end times (meaning their listings got indexed and listed almost immediately). However.. this weird behavior and delay HAS been happening to almost 95% of my listings in the last 4 weeks (actually I had two "pop-up" on time almost moments after I fired off a terse complaint to ebay.. coincidence?).

The first time I noticed this happening weeks back.. I immediately got a live chat rep and asked him what was going on.. describing the problem in detail. He said he "traced" the routing of my listings and could see that they were being diverted through Safety & Trust. I asked him WHY that would happen and all he could say was that it was often done at random; and he suggested I contact them as to "why".

So I sent a message off to S&T explaining what was going on in great detail again and asked why. They fired me back a reply saying my listings were NOT being singled, neither scrutinized, nor held back for ANY reason.. and they didn't know why the chat rep would say that anyway. They THEN quoted me a "canned" form-like answer regarding indexing delays due to listing content and especially.. revisions (The ONLY revising I EVER do AFTER submitting an auction through Auctiva.. is to add an eBay "counter" to my listings almost immediately after submission and it HAS never caused this behavior in over a year.. which I also pointed out to them in a reply).

Soooo.. the next day.. just to see if they were correct.. I listed two MORE auctions and did nothing to them afterwards. I also made them VERY short and "un-embellished" feature-wise.. just in case. Same 6 hour delay. I messaged them back when I discovered it made no difference.. and got the same "canned" answer about revisions a day later.

My next experiment tried listing straight through eBay WITHOUT Auctiva.. same 6 hour delay. I then tried simpy "relisting" an expired auction in eBay.. 6 hours again. Keep in mind that everytime I failed to pinpoint the cause.. I messaged them with my findings.. essentially calling them out on it.. and they would always send me the same answer.. indexing and revision CAN cause non-specific delays (Then WHY were all of mine 6 hours to the minute?).

About a week into the "exchange" they would start messaging me the next day that THEY COULD find my listings just fine by using the "Where's my item?" page (it's in the site map) and would tell me the page numbers in each category and sub-category where my listing appeared. (I have since found that page invaluable again at disproving them.. more on that in a sec.). Of course.. when your listing is delayed by six hours.. and it takes them 24 to get an answer to you.. you no longer HAVE a listing problem. Case closed as far as they're concerned. <rolls eyes>

I also discovered that during those 6 hours.. if I plugged in the item number in that page and asked to search for location.. I was told that the item didn't exist, hadn't been listed yet (DUHHHH!!!) or had ended. If I plugged in the item number and asked to "show item".. it DID show up.. but of course.. I COULD see and follow a link to it in "My eBay" as well. Which indicated to me my listings DID get submitted just fine.. they were just hanging in "limbo" somewhere for six hours.

So here I am almost 5 weeks into this little problem and my patience is wearing thin. My messages have gotten more "nasty" as time has gone by [BTW- They don't answer derogatorily "toned" messages ]. I think we've had about two dozen exchanges now and they STILL won't acknowledge something's wrong with "just me". Although I continually point out that many people selling the same kinds of things in the same kinds of categories with similar auction layout and designs.. are having THEIR listings posted immediately! <.. sigh>

I told a chat rep last night.. whilst discussing a totally different and hopefully.. unrelated problem.. that I had simply given up trying to make eBay see or admit that something's wrong. I now plan my auctions to show up 6 hours later at the time I want them to.. of course.. since the "end time" DOESN'T change.. I have to make a choice; and plan accordingly. The way I see it.. is as you do.. I explained to eBay that everytime this happens I'm losing 6 hours of "exposure time" and that they should charge me accordingly..they didn't have an answer to that.The majority of my auctions are BINs.. so the time they "show up" is as important.. even more so.. than when they end. If it's a straight auction that I list at 4PM on Thu for 10 days so that it ends on Sun at 4 PM and I lose 6 hours of exposure time.. I'm not so concerned. Like i said.. the end time concurs with original submission.. NOT original listing. Now if I list a BIN in the late afternoon like I used to.. after people get off work.. I KNOW it won't show up till midnight.. and then chances are no one will see it until the next evening if I'm lucky.. 24 hours later.. and dozens of pages into the category.

Not ALL of my messages are hostile either.. sometimes I just wanna' cry. I sent them one the other day literally begging and pleading with them to elevate this problem up to an actual individual who COULD trace the path of my listings and see what's going on.. but all I get are "first-tier" sympathies and more of the same.. ad nauseum. I guess if you're not a "Power Seller" they don't give a rat's *ss. I explained to them that if this continued I may have to drop eBay selling altogether (which is a second "livelihood" for me).. that got NO action either.

So I guess all I can say is really.. I sympathize.. but obviously.. I have no answer. Without you even expounding further.. I can tell with 90% certainty that you're experiencing the same behavior I am. I know it's not what you want to hear.. but trust me.. evilBay will be of no help either; and ALL of the answers and explanations others are offering up here.. while mostly true.. are NOT the "reasons" YOU and I are experiencing this.. I'm convinced.

Good luck though.. as for me.. I can only hope the problem just disappears and fixes itself.. someday.

BTW.. I sell vintage/collectible video games.. and eBay has assured me that I am NOT being filtered for indiscrepancies or pirated games (as my FB is near impeccable).. so in this case.. it's NOT because of what I'm selling

quote:

The category I sell in has most people searching on "newly listed". While I'm not losing a bid per se I am losing watchers and potiential bidders.

eBay adjusts the newly listed to show once they finally do put your items up.

quote:

Only recently (2 months ago) did I sign up for Auctiva and the problem has only surface since

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200704.shtml#2007-04-09091721

quote:

For safety reasons, items reportedly most favored by fraudsters may not be viewable for several hours before the listings are indexed into Search results. These new listings are still viewable on the site through My eBay or if you search for the specific item number; however, they are not immediately visible through a keyword search or Browse.

quote:

For safety reasons, items reportedly most favored by fraudsters may not be viewable for several hours before the listings are indexed into Search results. These new listings are still viewable on the site through My eBay or if you search for the specific item number; however, they are not immediately visible through a keyword search or Browse.

Here is also a link to eBay's "Listing Delays" FAQ: http://pages.ebay.com/help/announcement/26.html

Hi scorch - That's the most dedicated bit of Sherlock Holmes I've seen in quite a while. Good for you. Your experience, and experiments, do reveal many insights into this issue, even it they fail to uncover the underlying problem.

eBay stonewalling is commonplace and certainly evident here - all that communication resulted in nothing useful from ebay. Apparently only powersellers get the kind of personal investigation you were requesting.

The fact that 2 of your listings posted immediately raises a question: You are seeing immediate postings of other sellers, BUT does that necessarily mean ALL of their listings are posting right away? Or even MOST of their listings? Maybe not. You aren't seeing the listings from those same sellers that are being delayed. That particular observation does not, by itself, confirm that you are being singled out. Complaints from hundreds of other posters indicates that you are not, as well as the fact that SOME of your listings did post right away.

ON THE OTHER HAND: Why a consistent delay of SIX HOURS TO THE MINUTE? That's not random - something else appears to be going on.

Another item worthy of note is that listing directly from ebay, and not Auctiva, resulted in the same delay. This would indicate that Auctiva is not at fault. If you are being singled out however, then no clear conclusion can be made since you would experience a delay even with ebay.

Your explanation of how your BIN exposure is affected by late night start times really illuminates how it affects even straight auction listings. Even though ebay has adjusted the time stamping and is now labeling listings as "newly listed" when they appear doesn't compensate for reduced exposure due to late night starts. Good point.

This is truly a mystery worthy of Sherlock, one that needs to get corrected because unreliable start times is screwing everybody over and that's no mystery. Ebay has a LOT of money and resources - why has this problem been going on so long uncorrected? Inquiring minds want to know.

quote:

Originally posted by dleckington:
After several hours, I contacted ebay at Live Help and they suggested it was due to several hour interval between "indexing runs", but it's now been over 6 hours for the first item before it FINALLY showed. Live Help also got very weird and defensive (to the extreme) when I mentioned the submission had been done through Auctiva. I got an uninterrupted string of messages (canned) about not taking responsibility for 3rd party "problems", etc.......I should add that the rep at Live Help suggested that using the ebay scheduler would preprocess the listing and I'd have little or NO DELAYS. They'd also suggested I was lucky if I've not experience significant delays in the past.
Danno

Auctiva Jeff - Thanks for your input. I'm sure you've probably addressed this before, but a recurring question on this board is: Do listings from Auctiva (and other 3rd parties) get delayed from showing up in search results, while listings posted from ebay see little or no delay? This seems to be a frequent perception of a number of Auctiva posters and is quite controversial. Can you shed some light on this troubling "accusation" from ebay?
Thanks.

ninth_wave.. thank you. Yes.. I wanted to especially point out that fact about the problem still being prevalent whether I post through Auctiva.. or directly in eBay; therefore I certainly believe this problem has NOTHING to do with Auctiva.. case closed. Also of interest is the fact that the one time I simply "relisted" an expired auction (nothing changed in the process.. should be the quickest and easiest processing/re-indexing in the world).. I STILL had a 6 hour delay.

I'd be in interested if anyone else is experiencing the "six hour to the minute" delays that I have with EVERY one of my auctions that I have listed (save for the two).

Like I said.. the one time (just about in the middle of this four week+ run) that the listings WERE'NT delayed was when I listed two items.. waited about 30 minutes and decided they were going to be delayed as well, and then fired off yet another complaint to eB through the messaging system. About 15 minutes later the two listings showed up and I felt a bit foolish and guilty about complaining. I thought that MAYBE someone had read my message almost immediately and "pulled some strings".. especially since at that point I had had an 2 week ongoing dialog with eB about this; and even though everytime eB answers you.. you get a different rep.. I'm assuming that they DO have access to your dialog history. I've now concluded that that was just a fluke.. especially since subsequent complaints have never garnered the same results. It got SO bad for me awhile back that I told eB, and started sending them a new complaint for each & every listing over the past two weeks. As you know.. each courteous support message DOES elicit a separate response.. and I thought that perhaps threatening to "take up" even more of their time and resources.. would get some action.. but it didn't, as all I ever get are the standard "canned" responses about "re-indexing" (which I've already proved is NOT my problem).

I'm somewhat semi-happy to hear from your posts that this IS an ongoing issue with eBay experienced by many, and that it HAS been discussed and documented in THEIR forums, but you and I both know that that means nothing to eBay. Past experience has taught me that eBay rarely ever acknowledges (let alone fixes) internal glitches until ENOUGH people complain.. guess we haven't reached that threshold yet.

I DO find it mildly infuriating that they've never had the guts enough to simply say to me something along the lines of.. "This is a known ongoing problem amongst some sellers.. and we are trying to fix it.". If they had said something like that from the start.. I may have simply dropped the whole issue, but in all of my nine years on eB and countless issues.. I've only had a rep say something like that once.

BTW- Yeah.. I DO love proving eBay wrong at every chance I get.. and will expend any amount of energy to do so .. unfortunately.. that doesn't mean they ever listen.. but it makes me feel better.

I don't have any more inside knowledge than anyone else on the delays as eBay keeps what they're doing to combat fraud secret. From all of the posts I've read here and eBay message boards they don't appear to be singling out listings posted through 3rd parties. It appears to take the same amount of time whether listed through eBay directly or through us. Most of the people on eBay complaining in their message boards don't use Auctiva, but have the same problem.

There was just too much fraud on eBay. The delays are worth it because if left unchecked the fraud would have just detroyed eBay and there wouldn't be any buyers left.

quote:

Originally posted by Auctiva Jeff:
I don't have any more inside knowledge than anyone else on the delays as eBay keeps what they're doing to combat fraud secret. From all of the posts I've read here and eBay message boards they don't appear to be singling out listings posted through 3rd parties. It appears to take the same amount of time whether listed through eBay directly or through us. Most of the people on eBay complaining in their message boards don't use Auctiva, but have the same problem.

There was just too much fraud on eBay. The delays are worth it because if left unchecked the fraud would have just detroyed eBay and there wouldn't be any buyers left.

So I guess that means now they'll have more time to attack the issue of people hijacking your account and posting "full spread" porn pics through it? (This is an ongoing problem in the video game category.. where many "kids" hang out and in my eyes.. much more serious than someone who's too lazy to read or investigate being taken by a fraudster.).

<rolls eyes>.. yeah right .

Jeff, thanks for the comments. I have a feeling "only ebay knows for sure" and it seems they are reluctant to admit that the delays are anything other than designed by them(ie fraud checking, normal indexing). Problems that may be caused by such things as their "redesigning" of the search results, promotions, constantly overwhelmed servers, poor system design,and the like, seem to go totally unacknowledged and unfixed. They are quick to blame 3rd parties as well (what is this "pre-processing" of ebay listings noted above all about? Just BS?). Thanks again.

Scorch - Just checked four of my own recent listings. SAME 6HR-TO-THE-MINUTE DELAY. That's just when they were time-stamped, don't know when they actually appeared in search, probably close to, or right at, the same time I would guess. I wasn't singled out, not only because of your identical delay, but my items are not all the same kind either, so I doubt they were fraud checked - bookends? come on.

quote:

Originally posted by ninth_wave:
Scorch - Just checked four of my own recent listings. SAME 6HR-TO-THE-MINUTE DELAY. That's just when they were time-stamped, don't know when they actually appeared in search, probably close to, or right at, the same time I would guess.

Oh I HAVE been monitoring my listings closely the past couple of weeks and they do actually post (as in "show up") at that 6 hour mark (give or take a few minutes).. believe me.

So much so that most of the time when I submit.. I could set a clock for 5 hours and 50 minutes later.. come back.. and watch them magically appear.

Ok.. I just read that FAQ and this infuriates me. I find it to be more typical eBay BS.. for several reasons.

First off.. they SAY it will only be applied to items known to be favored by fraudsters and scammers. I sell primarily VIDEO GAMES! for Pete's sake. Yes.. I will acknowledge that I have heard reports of pirated video games in the past.. but these are usually from 16 year old kids (me.. I'm 50).. so dense.. they deserve to be taken. The kind that constantly write little whiney "guides" over in the left hand margin, based on their own personal misfortune and vitriol; who complain of fake import Gameboy Advance games and being overcharged a dime for shipping. The kind who will buy what should be a $50 game for a penny.. shipped from Singapore and not give it a second thought. The kind who can't seem to fathom that not everyone has a postal scale at home. I'm sorry.. but I don't feel for them.

Besides.. to "counterfeit" an entire old cartridge based game (or even a CD-based one for that matter).. and make it look "semi-passable"; then turn around and sell it for a fraction of what a collector would KNOW it's worth.. would require as much time, eqipment and effort.. as it did FOR the original.. so I'm not buying that the Video Game category is.. or should be.. a "hotspot" for them.

Rolex's.. I could see. Imported DVDs.. maybe. Old Disney animation cels.. you bet. Gucci bags.. uh-huh.

But consistent delays I and people like ninth_wave are seeing for video games and book ends? Gimme' a break! (n_w.. those aren't Louis XV bookends are they? )

I also find it hard to believe that eBay has suddenly employed, made accomodations for.. and trained.. an army of hundreds of counterfeit experts to scrutinize and scour every little auction listing they SUPPOSEDLY filter out.. and pass them on through. Again.. gimme' a break.

I THINK..

that instead..

those of us who ARE seeing these "to-the-minute" delays on nonsensical items.. are merely paying the price for eBay to simply "trim the fat" and lighten the load on what ninth_wave purported.. server overload and processing glut.

I'm not a conspiracy nut.. but think about it.. your systems are being overloaded and it is being manifested in seller observe problems. You don't want to neither acknowleddge it, nor invest more capital when your profit records are at an all time high. What better way to "ease" the burden than to "syphon off" a determinate # of listings.. and put them on "hold" for awhile? Possibly even making the process "time specific"? In other words.. filter some of the bottle-necking excess off during peak hours, and then list and index later when throughput thins?

All you'd have to do is make up the excuse they allude to.. filter a certain small amount of EVERYONE (no matter what's being listed), then hope nobody notices or complains too loudly? Problem solved! With NO more investment!

Also.. like I said.. I certainly DON'T practice fraud (I HAVE been a victim a few times in the past 8 years on eB.. but they've never given me any comfort in support of my claims i.e. recourse or reparations), nor do I condone it in any way, but this just seems like another instance of eB turning a blind eye to a real issue and yet offering a solution in the guise of something else.. and placing it on the backs of us.. their customers. Just as how it has irked me in the past about how much ebay DOEs condone and rely on private, non-employee citizens (i.e. customers) to do it's own "policing" for them. Another reason I DON'T frequent eBay forums themselves anymore.. I got sick & tired of watching a bunch of losers with no life.. bringing up, exposing and complaining about SOME sellers with minor and perhaps innocent discrepancies in a public forum and firing off complaint forms whenever they even remotely SMELLED something that MIGHT be a scam. I called them the "eBay Police" and I watched them tear apart and literally destroy.. some seemingly good selers with great FB %s that made a teeny slip-up.

But I digress.. I'm wandering and ranting now.. and none of this applies much to anyone else unless you're a video game seller like myself.. experiencing the same delays.

I DO find it however ironic that IF my sales ARE being delayed due to the afore-mentioned policy changes.. they are applying them to the SAME items that I myself bought off of eBay years back when I was a game collector.. but now have to part with because there's a personal emergency in my family.. ludicrous.

Hi, penny worth time, as I see it . . .

1) eBay always claim don't blame us for anything we are ONLY a (poor, sweet and innocent) venue, why blame us . .

2) Oh well if you insist big boys (says eBay), MS, VERO, Rolex etc ... insist we will employ the minimum number of staff we can possibly get away with

3) Oh dear the peasants (sellers) are revolting !!

4) How are the mega-bucks coming in, greeeaat !!

5) Repeat steps 1 to 4 until the whingers go away

Hi guys

I'm not blaming anyone, I just want to know after 6 hours of a fixed pricing being a no show, do I relist? My other fixed pricing listing, listed immediately.

Does anyone know rather it take 1 hour, 6 hours or a day or two, when does the listing end?
In other words, I do a 7 day listing starting at 1 PM but it does not show up on Ebay till 11 PM. Does it end at the end of 7 days at 1 PM or 11 PM?

I'm not new to Ebay but I am new to this problem, what does everyone else do?

Thans

Hi Trisha - If your listing shows on your "my ebay" page, then it has posted and you just have to wait for it to show up in search results. Up to 6 hours is the norm, but it can occasionally take up to 24 hours according to ebay. Don't relist unless it has not shown up on the "my ebay" page.

A 7-day auction will end 7 days from when it posts, not from when it shows up in search. In your example it will end at 1 pm.

Well.. I actually got what I feel closely approaches a personalized, "non-canned" reply to my plight.. the other day. Thought I'd post it here because it DOES offer a "semi-solution", somewhat amusing.. if nothing else:

"Dear Michael,

Michael, I do understand that you have been listing items on eBay for a
very long time and I assure you, I have reviewed your account and and I
have also looked at your listings.

Michael during the past year all listings creating on eBay now complete
an indexing cycle prior to becoming available using search on the site.
This is a major Trust and Safety initiative which has been instrumental
in preventing many listings from appearing on the site that violate
eBay's Policies. This is being done for the safety of all members and
indexing delays on average can be expected of up to 6 to 8 hours. In
some instances depending on volume and various other factors, that delay
may be longer. This indexing process cannot be bypassed, and we cannot
selectively speed up this process or avoid it for any listing.

Michael, I do appreciate how inconvenient this. This is why we do
recommend that you make use of the scheduling feature. If you schedule
your listings to start a future date, they usually have completed
indexing by that time and will be searchable at the time specified.

As you are aware, in prior emails, if a newly listed item is revised, it
will start the indexing cycle all over again.

It is my pleasure to assist you. Thank you for choosing eBay."

.. Wow! They EVEN called me by my name! So there you have it. If you want to avoid the 6 hours indexing delay.. the solution is simple.. simply use eBay's pre-scheduling listing option (costs extra.. of course) and schedule your item days ahead of submission.. the item will have had time to index by then. Why am I NOT surprised? Extra $ to eBay? Of course.. but it will take care of the problem that is of eBay's own doing.

I plan to try this method on one of my future auctions to confirm this.. since I take everything eBay says with a grain of salt.. but of course.. that listing can't be done through Auctiva.. especially since Auctiva SAVES us money by using their own pre-scheduling and doesn't tie in with eB's.

Auctiva= saves me money

evilBay= takes it away again

score:

Auctiva 1 eBay 0

Hi I just wanted to add my two cents not that two cents gets you much these days.
First, at to Security issues. Someone hijacked my ebay acct less than two months ago. Unfortunately I used another computer that did not have the same security. I certainly learned a valuable lesson. The person listed about 15 cars at a very low price. I received and email from someone to let me know. Ebay was helpful. It could have caused me a lot of grief and aggrevation. I do appreciate their efforts re security. Since then I have had several false ebay emails, as well as Paypal emails, saying someone has accessed my acct.

Secondly, I find it hard to complain when Auctiva doesn't charge me for their services.
Their shipping insurance is a lot cheaper and they insure for the entire amount including shipping and handling, not like USPS that only insures for the cost of the item.
Auctiva also allows me to include more than one photo in my listing. I am very grateful for all the services they offer and while I also get frustrated with some of the problems I have had with Auctiva - like revamping their system when ebay is offering a discount on listings, makes you wonder about ebay doesn't it, again everything is free.
My buyers do check out the newly listed items, but if as people say, there is an across the board delay then I guess everyone experiences the same problem. I know when I do a search for the most recently listed items the items do not seem to appear in any kind of order that I can figure.
Thirdly, I have found Auctiva very responsive Problems or emails I have sent re any of my problems.
I guess the bottom line is, as much as we get aggrevated / frustrated, where else can we find this kind of service for FREE?
Megansway

Since I'm one of those check out for myself kind of people, I emailed ebay customer support. This is what I got. It's similar to the email Scorch received but with more detail about the Indexing process. It does make sense when you think of the volume of listings we all generate on a daily basis.

"Dear Janet,

Thank you for writing eBay in regard to you items are not showing up in
search results.

I am sorry to hear that you were unable to locate your items that you
have listed on eBay. Surely, I will check myself and see what is the
issue.

Upon review, I have tried to find these items as a potential bidder and
pleased to inform you that was able to find your item with the keyword
search

The most likely reason you were unable to find your item earlier is that
it probably didn't have enough time to be indexed in our searches. Each
day, we run several indexing cycles for Search. These indexing cycles
are run to capture new information, such as new listings, bids, etc. It
is important to remember that the Search system tracks a lot of
information for every listing on the site, such as titles, descriptions,
the auction start and end times, the seller, the bidders and the bids.
Additionally, every time a bid is placed on an item or a new item is
listed, our Search engine has to track all of the new and changed
information as well.

It is my pleasure to assist you. Thank you for choosing eBay.

Sincerely,"