Bids never happen

[dvanco]

Describe the bug
The items in my list all look as I expect - I can put in a bid amount, set the item to bid, and everything looks ready to go.

When the time comes to bid the "Bid tab" opens and it starts the countdown - and when it gets to the designated time nothing happens.

No bid is placed.

And error shows if I examine the plugins in Chrome.

To Reproduce
Set up a bid and wait for the auction to close - it will fail.

Expected behavior
It should place a bid

Screenshots
https://imgur.com/a/ZXsFJKm

Imgur is cutting off the code I pasted from the browser for the button select:
<a data-cta="placebid" data-url="https://www.ebay.com/bfl/placebid/313523834606?_trksid=p2047675.m4905&amp;currencyId=USD" data-itemid="313523834606" data-initelment="hidden_init_module" data-elementid="MaxBidId" data-loading="Loading..." data-elementparams="maxbid" data-signinurl="" data-signinstate="true" data-fallbackurl="https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&amp;cta=placebid&amp;item=313523834606&amp;fromPage=2047675&amp;fb=2" role="button" id="bidBtn_btn" style="" class="btn btn-prim vi-VR-btnWdth-XL vilens-item" href="https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&amp;cta=placebid&amp;item=313523834606&amp;fromPage=2047675&amp;fb=2" vib="vib" rel="nofollow" "=""> Place bid</a>

Your Environment (please complete the following information):
Win 10, latest Chrome, latest Biet-o-Matic

stack trace.txt

[sweitzel]

Thanks, sounds like the ebay.com (english language) HTML code has been changed.
Will check it out.

btw, the stacktrace.txt seems a bit useless, the real error is not included (just basically the whole minified JS code).

[sweitzel]

Hmm, the item page works normal here, for example. https://www.ebay.com/itm/254984611920
The price can be entered and no error visible. The bid button is not relevant. BE does not actually use that as it openes a special bidding page.

Could be that there was a recent frontend change which only geographically rolls out slowly 🤔?
Could you please share the BE item log for one of the affected items?

[sweitzel]

I found out the reason.
On ebay.com they changed the offer page. offer.ebay.com is redirecting to a new offer "popup" and BE fails to use it (not implemented).

This is a bigger change, and I need to find out how to address this properly.

[sweitzel]

Thats bad. The whole offer.ebay.com has been removed / replaced.

[simonjk]

Same Problem also on ebay.de

[schwabeltier]

Yes, same on ebay.de
this could help
https://www.ebay.de/itm/353510455790?bolp=1&maxbid=1
Is there anywhere in this universe an overview for this variables, that could fit in to this link?

[dvanco]

Anything I can do to help?

…

On Wed, May 26, 2021 at 9:10 AM schwabeltier ***@***.***> wrote: Yes, same on ebay.de this could help https://www.ebay.de/itm/353510455790?bolp=1&maxbid=1 — You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#30 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ADJ7TFMILXJCWATDVVBRYO3TPTXLVANCNFSM45J7ZI2A> .

[sweitzel]

In my opinion Ebay is currently in an inconsistent state (tbh the Ebay code quality scares me). The implementation at least does not look complete anymore or yet:

They specify a data-fallback URL on the confirm button: http://offer.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MakeBid&mode=1&item=353510455790&maxbid=1,00&fromPage=2047675&fb=2&transid=0&bu=confirm but its not working anymore as the offer.ebay page redirects back to the item page.

Actually in an older version of BE I just pressed the bid button on the item page, and confirmed in the popup modal. If that remained in place, everything would have continued to work.

But unfortunately that was not really stable, as the item page is super large with many Javascripts. The offer page was considerably slimmer and much more stable. So getting this back to work, I basically need to restore some old functionality (see #16) but as BE evolved more or less rewrite it.

As unfortunate as it is , I currently tend to stop working on this extension and focus on projects where I have the ecosystem under my own control.

[dvanco]

I understand. And the inconsistency is likely, as you say, because of a slow roll-out of code to all locations. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted :)

…

On Wed, May 26, 2021 at 2:12 PM Sebastian Weitzel ***@***.***> wrote: In my opinion Ebay is currently in an inconsistent state. The implementation does not look complete: They specify a data-fallback URL on the confirm button: http://offer.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MakeBid&mode=1&item=353510455790&maxbid=1,00&fromPage=2047675&fb=2&transid=0&bu=confirm but its not working anymore as the offer.ebay page redirects back to the item page. Actually in an older version of BE I just pressed the bid button on the item page, and confirmed in the popup modal. If that remained in place, everything would have continued to work. But unfortunately that was not really stable, as the item page is super large with many Javascripts. The offer page was considerably slimmer and much more stable. So getting this back to work, I basically need to restore some old functionality (see #16 <#16>) but as BE evolved more or less rewrite it. As unfortunate as it is , I currently tend to stop working on this extension and focus on projects where I have the ecosystem under my own control. — You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#30 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ADJ7TFMH2JWHUWHLIWPAJCDTPU2XBANCNFSM45J7ZI2A> .

[schwabeltier]

Hey Sweitzel,
first: thank you for this nice tool!
second: Ikn, wether you can just hit the Button for bidding on an item and confirm (i gues, this was the intention, right?)
By that would it be gratefull, because, this functionality ist just very easy, to implement this simple bid-process?
Third: If you just follow the link, i posted above with the bolp and maxbid paramter, it shall work.
I know, a tool, which could handle your own ecosystem would be grater, do you see possibilities for that? Because the Login on Ebay gets worse and even more worse with captchas and this stuff. I think there must be an API-Solution via an by ebay authorized Application. This sounds very complicated. I would be very very glad, if you could just implement a hidding of the bid-confirm-button and a call via the given link. Your tool is the only good working tool on the internet. Im unsure, how many contributors/donaters you have via the forum.
"additional benefits in the future."

[stuboy333]

think i have the same problem? i attach screen shot just happened today:-

[PlanetKrikkit]

Seems I have also just experienced this issue- if the plugin is fundamentally broken by eBay changes, I'd suggest somehow making it clear to users by removing it or pushing an update that makes it obvious, if only to warn people not to rely on it!! If I had known BE was broken I would not have missed this auction

05/26/2021, 10:23:46 PM Items Updated Item Maximum Bid: 98
05/26/2021, 10:23:46 PM Items Updated Item Auto-Bid: false -> true
05/26/2021, 10:42:27 PM Items Updated Status:
05/27/2021, 12:43:03 AM Items Updated Price: 10.5 -> 12.5; Number of Bids: 5 -> 6; Minimum Bid: 11 -> 13
05/27/2021, 2:48:03 AM Items Updated Price: 12.5 -> 16; Number of Bids: 6 -> 7; Minimum Bid: 13 -> 17
05/27/2021, 7:03:03 AM Items Updated Price: 16 -> 22; Number of Bids: 7 -> 8; Minimum Bid: 17 -> 23
05/27/2021, 8:08:03 AM Items Updated Shipping Cost: GBP 10.00 (approx. US $14.13) -> GBP 10.00 (approx. US $14.12)
05/27/2021, 12:17:45 PM Items Updated Price: 22 -> 28.01; Number of Bids: 8 -> 10; Minimum Bid: 23 -> 29.01
05/27/2021, 2:18:03 PM Items Updated Price: 28.01 -> 31; Number of Bids: 10 -> 12; Minimum Bid: 29.01 -> 32
05/27/2021, 3:23:03 PM Items Updated Price: 31 -> 32; Number of Bids: 12 -> 13; Minimum Bid: 32 -> 33
05/28/2021, 5:28:39 PM Items Updated Price: 32 -> 46.57; Number of Bids: 13 -> 19; Shipping Cost: GBP 10.00 (approx. US $14.12) -> GBP 10.00 (approx. US $14.19); Minimum Bid: 33 -> 47.57
05/29/2021, 8:59:20 AM Items Updated Shipping Cost: GBP 10.00 (approx. US $14.19) -> GBP 10.00 (approx. US $14.18)
05/29/2021, 8:04:20 PM Items Updated Price: 46.57 -> 47.57; Number of Bids: 19 -> 20; Minimum Bid: 47.57 -> 48.57
05/29/2021, 8:47:20 PM Bidding Info Offer tab has been opened for bidding 61 seconds before auction ends (tab=649)
05/29/2021, 8:47:25 PM Items Updated Status:
05/29/2021, 8:47:47 PM Items Updated Price: 47.57 -> 55.99; Number of Bids: 20 -> 21
05/29/2021, 8:48:17 PM Items Updated Price: 55.99 -> 67; Number of Bids: 21 -> 22
05/29/2021, 8:48:20 PM Bidding Info Offer tab is open (Tab=649)
05/29/2021, 8:48:20 PM Items Updated Price: 67 -> 70; Number of Bids: 22 -> 23
05/29/2021, 8:48:23 PM Items Updated Minimum Bid: 48.57 -> 72
05/29/2021, 8:48:28 PM Items Updated Currency: GBP -> null; Status: -> Bidding has ended on this item.
05/29/2021, 11:01:06 PM Items Updated Currency: GBP; Status: Bidding has ended on this item.
05/29/2021, 11:02:23 PM Items Updated Currency: GBP -> null; Status: Bidding has ended on this item.
05/29/2021, 11:04:39 PM Items Updated Currency: GBP; Status: Bidding has ended on this item.
05/30/2021, 12:28:40 AM Bidding Status Auction not successful. Your bid was not received or accepted by eBay (e.g. when another bidder placed a higher bid before yours).
05/30/2021, 12:28:40 AM Items Updated Status: Bidding has ended on this item.

[dvanco]

So I don't really understand the design of the workflow that the plug-in is using - but is it possible to re-write so that it simply uses the "standard" item listing page and not some "special" bid page?

When I click the "Place Bid" button inside the listing, the pop-up looks exactly like the "old" bid page....

This seems to be a completely different code base than the above:

[Lafferfr]

I also have the same bug. Will there be a new release soon?

[Lafferfr]

In my opinion Ebay is currently in an inconsistent state (tbh the Ebay code quality scares me). The implementation at least does not look complete anymore or yet:

They specify a data-fallback URL on the confirm button: http://offer.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MakeBid&mode=1&item=353510455790&maxbid=1,00&fromPage=2047675&fb=2&transid=0&bu=confirm but its not working anymore as the offer.ebay page redirects back to the item page.

Actually in an older version of BE I just pressed the bid button on the item page, and confirmed in the popup modal. If that remained in place, everything would have continued to work.

But unfortunately that was not really stable, as the item page is super large with many Javascripts. The offer page was considerably slimmer and much more stable. So getting this back to work, I basically need to restore some old functionality (see #16) but as BE evolved more or less rewrite it.

As unfortunate as it is , I currently tend to stop working on this extension and focus on projects where I have the ecosystem under my own control.

The "old" version worked perfectly enough for me. Please don't drop this project. It is clear that ebay alway will change things to make autobids difficult. It is in the nature of such systems.

[dvanco]

The "old" version worked perfectly enough for me. Please don't drop this project. It is clear that ebay alway will change things to make autobids difficult. It is in the nature of such systems.

But the issue here is that you can't have a "browser supported" plug-in that only works for some of the people.

But I think you can pull the branch, build it for yourself, and use it by manually installing (and insuring it never updates)

If Sebastian would make binary builds available I would be very grateful - I don't have the required tools or skills to build it myself :(

[mikhoul]

I don't use auto-biding extension regularly but 5-6 time a year.

So until ebay stabilize their code you can try PowerSniper for eBay: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/powersniper-for-ebay/aaedppaainbngpdbjenindnjcgcndpje

It's not open source but the developer is very responsive if you report bugs via email, I personally use BOM and PowerSniper extensions depending of my mood. Also if you unpack the extension the code is relatively easy to vet.

Just let me know if PowerSniper work fine on eBay since I don't have anything to buy right now.

Regards !

[dvanco]

So until ebay stabilize their code you can try PowerSniper for eBay: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/powersniper-for-ebay/aaedppaainbngpdbjenindnjcgcndpje

Tried this today - same response. Came time to bid, it just sat there. I've emailed the dev to see if I can extract logs - but I wonder if it's the same issue....

[mikhoul]

Tried this today - same response. Came time to bid, it just sat there. I've emailed the dev to see if I can extract logs - but I wonder if it's the same issue....

Probably the same issue but I've seen today that an update to PowerSniper came out: V 1.8.14.

You can send an email to the PowerSniper developer if the last version don't work it will help him to fix the issue. He is very resonsive.

Regards

[UdoRat]

I can confirm PowerSniper sucessfully placed bids on ebay.de today.

Udo

[mikhoul]

I can confirm PowerSniper sucessfully placed bids on ebay.de today.

Thanks a lot for reporting, if I need to bid on an auction I will use it confidently. 👍

[dvanco]

PowerSniper has, for me, proven to be EXTREMELY unreliable. It has issues with any part of your system going idle. The developer has told me that I need to disable "Throttle Javascript timers in background" in the browser - and I have done that. It doesn't seem to matter. The developer is certainly "available" - but most of his responses have been "puzzled at my experience" or "well, it works for me".

It doesn't work in Chrome for me at all (but I have numerous tabs open to eBay - see comment to follow)

I did a net new install of Brave with this as the only extension and it works as follows:

If I have multiple auctions set up and I actively sit and use the browser all my items will bid without issue.

If I:

• Move the browser window that has PowerSniper running to the "background" of other windows"
• walk away from my computer for more that 10 or 15 minutes
  ....the tool does not bid.

My computer is NOT going to sleep when this happens.

Window minimized - 100% failures:

Window in the foreground but I've left the computer "sit" - inconsistent results:

And while I can't say for sure (because I don't feel like losing another dozen auctions by testing) I think this tool has a problem with auctions that close very close together (within a minute or two of one another)

And then I've observed that it has an issue when you have more than 4 tabs to eBay open (it again goes "brain dead")

SO - in my opinion - this tool is less than optimal, and if there's an auction you really want to win you should use something else like eSnipe....

A sniping tool that I have to sit in front of to use is literally pointless - I can bid if I'm sitting there.

YMMV

[mikhoul]

With those flags disabled and a windows open and visible with PowerSniper I never experienced any issue, the only issues I experienced were because of changes in Youtube layout and were promptly fixed by the author of the extension.

Regards

[dvanco]

All I can pass on is my experience. I want to win auctions, this is not the tool for me.