[juangrande]

Mark is right. I set mine to be different for exactly the reason he mentions: to avoid having my bid listed twice on the bid history (which has happened to me occasionally). Around ten years ago, there seemed to be a sentiment among a few people (even sellers) that sniping was cheating, and having your bid listed twice is proof you've used a sniping service. Back then, your eBay username was listed in the bid history, and sellers could block you for that, if they wanted.

Times have changed. Sellers are only allowed to see the credentials of the winning bidder (to complete the transaction) and eBay has even partnered with Gixen to support sniping.

So, setting your offsets to be different has no useful purpose. It's just one of my many idiosyncrasies.

One could even argue that setting your offset to be different than the default has very little value, but that is a more debatable point.

[Cupid]

Again having them the same is a choice for you to make, it isn't necessarily better, or worse.

What you should take into account though is that, whatever you choose, you should, most often, expect to see the bid placed at the largest offset you choose... Most often the later bid will be blocked by Ebay for being the same, only when the server that is to place the first bid has a problem doing so will you ever see the second, lower offset, bid placed by the other server.

If you set them both to the same offset then they both try to place the bid at exactly the same moment, and sometimes when you look at the bid history after the auction has competed, you can see two bids of exactly the same amount placed... that is because the Ebay servers were not fast enough to recognise that two bids from different locations for the same amount were placed by the same buyer... That isn't a problem really, but some don't like it because it does provide an indication, to anyone that sees it, that you are using an automated bidder, personally that has never caused me an issue.. no seller has ever even mentioned it and, unlike John, I generally do have both offsets the same.

[EveryonesBigSister]

After reading through the offset time posts I'm confused again. (I am not very tech savvy, as I'm sure you'll see,) but should offset times be different or the same?

One poster says they shouldnt be different since they are posting the same bid... does having one different help beat other auto bidders?

Thanks!

[EveryonesBigSister]

Thank you for giving an explanation to the offset time, I tried looking for it in the FAQ and info and couldn't find it so, that really helps. and i appreciate you saying what you use!

[juangrande]

1. Yes, the offset is the number of seconds before the end of the auction that Gixen will place your bid.

2. Not everyone agrees what the "best time" is. That is because what works best depends on what other bidders are doing. Do a search for "offset" to see older posts where this is discussed.

(a) One important point is that the shorter you choose your offset, the more likely it is that your bid doesn't reach eBay in time due to random network issues. I recommend setting your offset to be at least 3 seconds, but most people see no reason to change it from the default of 6 seconds.

(b) If many people are bidding and it is likely that there will be bids at essentially the same amount, a longer offset (say, 10 seconds) may work better because if two bids of the same amount are placed, the earlier bid wins.

(c) In case you're interested, I set my main offset at 4 seconds and my mirror offset at 3 seconds; however, I make no claim that it is the best setting.

[patwu915]

is that when Gixen will place the auto bid?

If it is, what is the best time to do it? And do you have the main + mirror site have different offset time?

Thanks