Feature Loss

[smitty]

In the past, one could place a Gixen bid on ANY current ebay sale even if it was a bid that would NEVER execute.

Now, you can ONLY place a bid on "normal" auctions.

If you want multiple items and some of the sales are BIN/BO, you have to track ALL the items somewhere else. You can NO longer look at them in a common interface because you can't ADD them or if you added them in the past, edit them now.

This feature WAS available in the previous version -- old Gixen didn't complain -- if the ebay number was valid, the item showed up in your list -- now Gixen can't even "add" the item.

What's next? Only amounts over the current bid will be allowed? Will we have to make bids closer to the "current price" for that item that ebay computes?

Having a different username is a great idea, but not at the loss of critical features that DID exist in the prior version.

Adding some sales might warrant a warning, but allow them to be added. Make it a special feature (to allow us what we already had) or charge more to get was already available and working, but don't just eliminate this feature because the software CAN now figure out the auction type which the former version could not.

Since several of these "different auctions" remained after the conversion back and forth, there can't be a problem physically on the Gixen end. The software just has to place a warning, like it does now and then add that item, like it did before.

I say allow any valid auction number to be entered and edited.



Thank you.

[Cupid]

This isn't a 'feature loss', you never could add items that are BIN ONLY, or, at least, you were never supposed to be able to do so, it just got mistakenly enabled, occasionally.

There is plenty of evidence for this if you search this community for 'BIN ONLY':

In particular this thread is pertinent, (when it was previously temporarily enabled):

http://www.gixen.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7557

I think perhaps the confusion arises because you can, and always could add items that have both a BIN and an auction price.

Personally, I don't want Gixen to become an auction management tool, that is what Ebay is for... Adding such features can only detract from Gixens primary function; sniping auctions.
_________________
Mark

[smitty]

I am using Gixen for sniping (and am doing a reasonable job getting items), however knowing that BIN/BO sales exist (and at times, from the SAME seller), one can maintain a better ability to "understand" the marketplace to allow better control of the bids on those auctions that Gixen CAN control.

While "sniping" can be used to get a desired item without forgetting to bid a specific point in time, most people use Gixen as a way to get items at a possibly lower price by allowing knowledgeable Gixen bidders to outbid less knowledgeable bidders by providing those bidders very little time to react (mere seconds). I have participated in auctions where there is little action for over a week and all the "action" is in the last minute, sometimes nearly doubling in price.

Allowing BIN/BO items to be added (even if they will have to be manually purchased) allows one to bid more effectively.

Those sales WERE enabled and now are no longer allowed or edited.

I'll probably regret this, but here is an example that expires within hours:

192255531440

I still feel that all auctions need to be allowed, but definitely BIN/BO even if disabled from actual bidding attempts, because any automated "importing" will have to be manually checked even if all ebay ids are verified.

[juangrande]

What you are asking for is an auction management system, and is available to you already by maintaining an eBay watch list. As Mark already pointed out, Gixen is a sniping system: it is designed to place your bid seconds before the corresponding auction ends. Adding auction management to the tasks the Gixen servers must carry out would run the risk of degrading their ability to execute their main task: placing snipe bids on eBay.

Mario is planning on rolling out an updated Windows Desktop Manager for Gixen users who would like to have an auction management system integrated with Gixen that would provide the features you're asking for (among others). Keep an eye out for it. (Perhaps there might even be a version for the Mac.)

As for bidding more effectively, I would suggest that you could peruse BINs on eBay before scheduling your bid on Gixen. Then, you could set up your bid on Gixen for the price you'd be willing to pay hours or even days before the auction ends and then forget about it.

Here's the big question: Why should last-minute auction activity influence the size of your bid?
_________________
John

If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
--- Yogi Berra

[Gixen]