Thread: Sniper question

Originally Posted by Quick

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. I'm pretty sure that IF your bid gets entered at all then the eBay software WILL run it up to the max if needed. The auction-end time is simply a cutoff for bids to be entered. Once your bid has been entered it will be incremented as necessary until it reaches your max bid. That's my understanding. (even if it did work as you might be thinking, seconds is an eternity for the eBay server).

That's my understanding of the process too.

Which is why I'm asking on the Gixen forum how the bids are queued since the first max bid wins if two people were sniping with the same max bid whoever's bid was recorded first would win...in which case it might be worth subscribing to their "mirror" service so you can adjust your bid time.

Agreed. The time it gets entered on eBay is the time that is used to break ties. One of the questions was if 20 people were the only ones bidding, all were using Gixen, and all entered the same max bid. Then it would be determined by the order that Gixen submitted the bids to eBay. I was speculating that Gixen would use the same method. First one entered would be the first one submitted. They do say that if you modify your bid on Gixen before it has been submitted the original bid will be canceled (on Gixen) and a new bid entered (on Gixen). I would expect this to move you to the back of the (Gixen) queue if there was one.

Originally Posted by Quick

Agreed. The time it gets entered on eBay is the time that is used to break ties. One of the questions was if 20 people were the only ones bidding, all were using Gixen, and all entered the same max bid. Then it would be determined by the order that Gixen submitted the bids to eBay. I was speculating that Gixen would use the same method. First one entered would be the first one submitted. They do say that if you modify your bid on Gixen before it has been submitted the original bid will be canceled (on Gixen) and a new bid entered (on Gixen). I would expect this to move you to the back of the (Gixen) queue if there was one.

I was worried about this myself as I sometimes adjust my max bid if the price goes up while I'm watching and I was afraid my new bid would be placed at the back of the pack so to speak.

Now for the definitive answer.

The question I posed on the Gixen forum...

One question I've always had about snipe programs in general is since they all try to bid at the last second how are those bids queued?

Since whoever puts in the highest bid first wins lets take the hypothetical example of 20 Gixen snipers all putting in the same max bid. Who would win?
And their answer...

The winner will be the one whose bid is submitted first. This is completely random if all the participants use the same offset.

Originally Posted by AusTexShaver

And their answer...

The winner will be the one whose bid is submitted first. This is completely random if all the participants use the same offset.

Interesting. Was that from a Gixen person or a forum member? The way they would do that is use a random number generator and then use that to insert the bid into the queue for that offset. I guess from some perspective that would be consistent with the concept of sniping.

Originally Posted by Quick

Interesting. Was that from a Gixen person or a forum member? The way they would do that is use a random number generator and then use that to insert the bid into the queue for that offset. I guess from some perspective that would be consistent with the concept of sniping.

That answer was from the site administrator of Gixen.

I doubt if the process is as sophisticated as using a random number generator. I suspect Gixen just takes all bids and sends them at once (or at the time you specify)...and lets eBay sort it out.

Originally Posted by AusTexShaver

That answer was from the site administrator of Gixen.

I doubt if the process is as sophisticated as using a random number generator. I suspect Gixen just takes all bids and sends them at once (or at the time you specify)...and lets eBay sort it out.

There is no such thing as "all at once" with computers. They will leave the Gixen server one at a time (or possibly bundled in some order). They could get randomized a little bit in transit over the net if transmitted one at a time but not likely.

If you guys want to play with snipping software for free try this program.
Works very well and best of all the price is right.
This program gives you a good understanding of how the whole process works.
I don't have any affiliation with this site just a happy user of this program. By the way I use the Linux version.

Bruce

Originally Posted by Quick

There is no such thing as "all at once" with computers. They will leave the Gixen server one at a time (or possibly bundled in some order). They could get randomized a little bit in transit over the net if transmitted one at a time but not likely.

Here is what the Gixen site administrator had to say about that.

So you don't use a "first in first out" queue to submit the bids? Do you use some type of random generator to determine the order of bid submission?

The reason I'm asking is I'm wondering if for some reason I decide to edit my bid that I'm not hurting my chances by that bid being placed at the "back of the pack" so to speak.


"No, handling threads are spawned at the same time for all the snipes. This all happens in a tiny fraction of time that's far, far less then the network latency variation. So editing a bid in no way puts you at disadvantage.

Plus the chance of two users bidding on the same item through Gixen is very small. While it happens occasionally, it's still very rare."

I guess he doesn't know how popular his program is among SRP users. I suspect several of us are using it to snipe at the same razor.

Hmmm. I'd say he either doesn't know (not the programmer), doesn't think you want that sort of detail, or doesn't want to disclose it. If you want to keep pushing him you're going to have to get really specific...

Is it one thread per bid?
Is it one thread per time slot?
Is it one thread per user? (timer used to submit bids placed for different offsets).
Is it one thread per user per auction?
Is it one thread per auction?
Something else?

The example would be users 1 through 10 all bidding on the same item and using the same offset.
Users 1 through 10 submit/setup their Gixen bids in chronological order.
What is the probability that eBay will register user #8's bid as being entered before user #2?
Would that probability change if user #2 modifies his bid on Gixen after user #8 has entered his bid in Gixen?

(you'll probably soon be banned for being a pain in the arse )

Originally Posted by Quick

Hmmm. I'd say he either doesn't know (not the programmer), doesn't think you want that sort of detail, or doesn't want to disclose it. If you want to keep pushing him you're going to have to get really specific...

Is it one thread per bid?
Is it one thread per time slot?
Is it one thread per user? (timer used to submit bids placed for different offsets).
Is it one thread per user per auction?
Is it one thread per auction?
Something else?

The example would be users 1 through 10 all bidding on the same item and using the same offset.
Users 1 through 10 submit/setup their Gixen bids in chronological order.
What is the probability that eBay will register user #8's bid as being entered before user #2?
Would that probability change if user #2 modifies his bid on Gixen after user #8 has entered his bid in Gixen?

(you'll probably soon be banned for being a pain in the arse )

I think I've already pushed as far as I can. If I were the programmer I wouldn't cough up any proprietary info just to satisfy someones curiousity.

Based on the responses though I'm guessing it's one thread per user for each time slot. I don't know that much about server latency but it's plausible that you could send quite a few bids for the same object that would be recorded at the exact same time by eBay...in which case the winner would be determined by a random drawing, which would be done by eBay.

If you want to push go to the Gixen forum and under support look for the thread titled Who Wins.