TBR Drop - Mar 8, 2023 (1.Viewing)

  • Topic Starter FM
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There is something really screwed up about the WHC domain auctions today - I'm constantly refreshing yet stuff is falling off with over 1 minute or 2 of extended time left. I place bids and it doesn't add 3 minutes. WTF?

It seems that whenever a domain ends and "falls off" the list, it screws the timing up and what you see (even refreshed) on the Extended Time is not correct.

Once a few auctions drop off the list, that "extended time" number is pure fantasy (even when refreshing every 5-10 seconds) and I need to remember that, and just bid when I want.
 
DomainRecap said:
There is something really screwed up about the WHC domain auctions today - I'm constantly refreshing yet stuff is falling off with over 1 minute or 2 of extended time left. I place bids and it doesn't add 3 minutes. WTF?

It seems that whenever a domain ends and "falls off" the list, it screws the timing up and what you see (even refreshed) on the Extended Time is not correct.

Once a few auctions drop off the list, that "extended time" number is pure fantasy (even when refreshing every 5-10 seconds) and I need to remember that, and just bid when I want.
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yeah, there are ton of things that could be done to improve auction interfaces at all registrars.... WHC's Extended Time clock at the top is indeed confusing/misleading. In fact, that's the best way to hope to get a bargain is to take advantage of the mass hysteria during the first few minutes of auction.
 
rlm said:
In fact, that's the best way to hope to get a bargain is to take advantage of the mass hysteria during the first few minutes of auction.
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No joke, and that should be my next plan of action.

I was literally watching one I had just put a bid on, refreshed to see the price go up (but covered by a reserve) almost immediately drop off the list. I won another that I don't know how I won and lost one I don't know how I lost.

With so many auctions flying around and dropping off, and the Extended Time clock seemingly not being able to keep up, it's mass pandemonium. And it's the multiple Extended Timers on the left side of each auction that screw up for me, not the initial one at the very top.

I think this is why MyID uses a "fake 3-minute timer" where all the auctions are lined up in even numbers. It makes it a lot easier to synchronize and I never had timing issues with them, even with a page full of auctions.

I get a pile of auctions on WHC and you'd need David Copperfield (and maybe get Kreskin and exhume Harry Houdini) to figure out the actual Extended Time of each auction.
 
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I don't recall having any issues with my 2 WHC auctions today, but did notice something a little funky. When the extended timer gets down to zero, it bounces back and forth between zero and 10 seconds a few times then it finally stops with the price staying the same, so this isn't an anti-snipping measure I don't think.

I'm usually busy when auctions end, so I don't watch the endings, but this struck me as odd. Is this normal? Does anyone else see that?
 
DomainRecap said:
you'd need David Copperfield (and maybe get Kreskin and exhume Harry Houdini) to figure out the actual Extended Time of each auction.
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I didn't realize that it was that hard.. may be, I don't care much for them, anymore.
 
Spex said:
I don't recall having any issues with my 2 WHC auctions today, but did notice something a little funky. When the extended timer gets down to zero, it bounces back and forth between zero and 10 seconds a few times then it finally stops with the price staying the same, so this isn't an anti-snipping measure I don't think.

I'm usually busy when auctions end, so I don't watch the endings, but this struck me as odd. Is this normal? Does anyone else see that?
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I did not see that, but I also know better than to ever look at that clock. And with just a couple of domains in auction, its a non issue. But the more domains, the worse it gets. Guys are bad multi-taskers, maybe we need to get our wives to do it? Wait, that's a horrible idea. If she had any idea how much I spend she'd probably lose her crap!
 
rlm said:
Guys are bad multi-taskers, maybe we need to get our wives to do it? Wait, that's a horrible idea. If she had any idea how much I spend she'd probably lose her ****!
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May be I didn't wait for that advise and invited her to watch me in auction action too early. Now I am on the road, driving her, every Thursday between 12 and 3 pm EST!!
 
Spex said:
I don't recall having any issues with my 2 WHC auctions today, but did notice something a little funky. When the extended timer gets down to zero, it bounces back and forth between zero and 10 seconds a few times then it finally stops with the price staying the same, so this isn't an anti-snipping measure I don't think.

I'm usually busy when auctions end, so I don't watch the endings, but this struck me as odd. Is this normal? Does anyone else see that?
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I will speculate that they continually reset that clock to the next closest auction end time, thus all the jumping around. But if you're staring at that clock, you miss seeing the domain that is actually closing. Gotta ignore that clock completely. Classic case of someone designing an interface for something they don't really use themselves and thus don't understand the nuances.
 
rlm said:
I will speculate that they continually reset that clock to the next closest auction end time, thus all the jumping around. But if you're staring at that clock, you miss seeing the domain that is actually closing. Gotta ignore that clock completely. Classic case of someone designing an interface for something they don't really use themselves and thus don't understand the nuances.
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Agree, but I was only in 2 auctions. One ended without another bid and I only noticed this on the one that had mutliple bids...so it was pretty easy to see.

But I agree, had I had a lot of auctions going on, it would have been distracting
 
Thank you all for your feedback - I'm aware of the lack of synchronization between the browser and our systems - we'll take a closer look at this and see how we can address this best.
 
FM said:
Thank you all for your feedback - I'm aware of the lack of synchronization between the browser and our systems - we'll take a closer look at this and see how we can address this best.
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I lost two auctions where I was fully intending on going higher, I just thought I blinked too long or something.
 
rlm said:
Guys are bad multi-taskers, maybe we need to get our wives to do it?
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Nothing to do with multi-tasking, as I have no trouble handling 20+ auctions on MyID. Their clocks are solid for the end time, even if they do cheat on the 3 minute increment a bit.

But those timers on WHC are funky city and they can add or lose time at a moment's notice. The "time left" jumps around, the correct price isn't always shown, and when a few domains drop at the same time, it really screws up the clocks. And I refresh constantly to mitigate these effects, as it loses time easily if you don't.

I'm sure the time is correct at WHC headquarters, but I am not certain it's 100% synchronized on every single PC in Canada.

The best thing to do with WHC is to just bid and don't watch the clocks, as if you try to get a bid in within 5-10 seconds, your bids will often error out because your system is often not displaying the absolute correct time down to the second. On MyID, and I can time a bid down the last second.
 
FM said:
Thank you all for your feedback - I'm aware of the lack of synchronization between the browser and our systems - we'll take a closer look at this and see how we can address this best.
Click to expand...

You might want to try what MyID does, and with each bid, add approximately X minute increments, but average it out to make sure the seconds add up on all auctions.

That's why you'll notice that all MyID auctions, no matter how many bids they have, all end at the same number of seconds. 1:45, 2:45, 3:45 etc.

It has to make it easier to synchronize to online viewers when you don't have to worry about so many different times for each auction.
 
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DomainRecap said:
Nothing to do with multi-tasking, as I have no trouble handling 20+ auctions on MyID. Their clocks are solid for the end time, even if they do cheat on the 3 minute increment a bit.

But those timers on WHC are funky city and they can add or lose time at a moment's notice. The "time left" jumps around, the correct price isn't always shown, and when a few domains drop at the same time, it really screws up the clocks. And I refresh constantly to mitigate these effects, as it loses time easily if you don't.

I'm sure the time is correct at WHC headquarters, but I am not certain it's 100% synchronized on every single PC in Canada.

The best thing to do with WHC is to just bid and don't watch the clocks, as if you try to get a bid in within 5-10 seconds, your bids will often error out because your system is often not displaying the absolute correct time down to the second. On MyID, and I can time a bid down the last second.
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Hmm. That definitely sounds like too much javascript running in a browser on a device without enough memory or cpu speed... I honestly don't notice those kind of issues.

It is a hot mess though keeping track of many simultaneous auctions there, and the whack-a-mole reference I made earlier isn't far off from reality on a busy day.
 
DomainRecap said:
You might want to try what MyID does, and with each bid, add approximately X minute increments, but average it out to make sure the seconds add up on all auctions.

That's why you'll notice that all MyID auctions, no matter how many bids they have, all end at the same number of seconds. 1:45, 2:45, 3:45 etc.

It has to make it easier to synchronize to online viewers when you don't have to worry about so many different times for each auction.
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WHC extends an auction end time by 3 minutes from the time the high bid is bumped.

MyID extends an auction end time by 3 minutes from its existing end time.

Nothing nefarious or clock cheating with either of them. Just a different way of looking at it.
 
Spex said:
When the extended timer gets down to zero, it bounces back and forth between zero and 10 seconds a few times then it finally stops with the price staying the same
Click to expand...

This happens a lot with me too, and not just at the end of an auction.

You can really see it when a few auctions are sold and drop off the list - all the other extended time clocks start doing the funky chicken for a few seconds. No idea what's going on there, but likely some type of synchronization that hoops things up if one of those is ending 10 seconds later.

Let's say there are 10 auctions you're bidding on at WHC, and three of them have 10 seconds left of extended time, and one at 15 seconds, one at 18 seconds and a couple at 20-25 seconds. Once those first 3 domains drop off and we get a funky chicken resynch, good luck getting a late bid for the others within the 5-15 seconds left.

And it was proven out today, as all my auctions were over within 3-4 minutes of chaos.

I think that's why MyID deals in 1 minute increments at minimum, to give the individual clocks time to resynch after an auctions close and drop off.
 
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rlm said:
WHC extends an auction end time by 3 minutes from the time the high bid is bumped.

MyID extends an auction end time by 3 minutes from its existing end time.

Nothing nefarious or clock cheating with either of them. Just a different way of looking at it.
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Fudging, rounding, massaging, whatever you call it, MyID's method ensures that there are 1 minute increments between closing auction sets and that every auction has the same XX number of seconds left. I think it's a good design for an online timing system, as it gives 1 minute between auction closes for online resynch.

Maybe WHC should try that design and keep the auction end times consistent and not have one end in 1 second, another 2 seconds later, 2 more auctions end 2 seconds after that, then 3 close more 4 seconds later - that's when their extended timers start doing the funky chicken.
 
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FM said:
Thank you all for your feedback - I'm aware of the lack of synchronization between the browser and our systems - we'll take a closer look at this and see how we can address this best.
Click to expand...

MyID's system (while clearly designed to make the timing easier to handle from a technical point of view) also might be one (of many ;)) reasons why MyID auctions hit higher prices than WHC's on average.

I have never had a technical issue bidding at MyID and some weeks I've had 15-20 auctions on my list. With a constant 1-minute increment between closing auction sets, the clocks stay synched to the browser and when one or more auctions end and fall off the list, the system has a full 60 seconds to synch for the next closing set - this 60-second break also gives the bidders a chance to regroup (and apply for an online loan).

More stable + 1-minute breaks in the action = More Bids!!

It's actually genius in a way and is great method to handle multiple online auctions that run concurrently on a variable timer.
 
Since these are now public anyway, here's an update on the BM auctions:

1678905211538.png
 
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