LOOKING AT THE ISSUE, PLEASE BE PATIENT

[mario]

Please do not start new forum threads, I will post updates here. I am aware of the issue.

[mario]

eBay, for whatever reason, started inserting captcha images when accessed from Gixen main server. This resulted in many failed snipes until I was able to re-route the traffic through the server that was not affected. My apologies, there was nothing I could do about that.

Snipes should work again now, but you may have to re-instate them by editing them.

[TW5544]

I'm still getting that message Mario, the mirror site did bid but the main site still put up the Verificatio message. I did the proxy thing and then couldn't get on Gixen or Ebay, undid the proxy and rebooted and got back on but still get the failure message., that was ten mins ago.

[mario]

Everything should be back to normal now, no need to do anything except to edit your bids to re-instate them if they were canceled.

[Gixen]

[bluegrassviolin]

Hi, I'm new to Gixen, but i can't seem to import my watch list. Any help much appreciated.

[jet_kit]

Hi,
Having a double problem. Gixen will no longer import watch lists (just tried again a few mins ago). eBay item concerned is 281378985172
Yesterday I had a max bid of GBP3.85 on an item which went for the opening bid price of 0.99. This also happened earlier in the week when I entered a max bid of GBP165.00 and the item went for GBP150.00. Because no bid was made eBay doesn't record these in my 'didn't win' list.javascript:emoticon('')
My concern is that I'm going away for a few days and would like to leave my bidding in Gixen's usually capable hands.
Thanks
Chris

[Cupid]

Yesterday there were issues with items that were not Mirrored because the Main Gixen server was targeted by Ebay for some reason, so not surprising if a non mirrored snipe failed then... if it was Mirrored please let us know the status given the snipe on the Mirror server after the auction finished and further investigation may be possible.

For the earlier snipe (of GBP165.00) please also provide the status both on the Main and Mirror server after the auction.

As far as watch list import is concerned, I think further investigation may be necessary to sort this out once and for all, in the mean time please add your snipes manually... any issues with the automated import mechanism should not affect the effectiveness of the sniping engine when it comes to the most important task of placing your bids on Ebay at the end of the auction.
_________________
Mark

[mmshoppingmm]

Hi, Can you please tell me if this issue has been resolved? Two of my snipes failed on 6 and 7 July so I followed your instructions now for Mac with Firefox but it causes me to not be able to access eBay (either load page or log in). When I remove your settings I can again get in to eBay, but I don't know whether my snipes will work next time. Please advise.

[mmshoppingmm]

Oh sorry, both my failed snipes were on the 6 July, so if this issue has been fixed since then, such that I don't need to go through the recommended procedure i.e. signout/cookies/proxy settings etc. for my snipes to work in future, please let me know. I'm worried it hasn't been fixed and I'll miss out again.

[mario]

It's fixed, everything is back to normal.

[can1991]

Hi,

Thanks to Mario for the explanations regarding the incident.

Was there really a deliberate attack by eBay?

And were these weird instructions about proxy settings really sent out by Gixen?? I am asking the question because those instructions made no sense in my opinion.....as Gixen is NOT bidding through its users' computers but through its own computers.

It would be great to understand.

Thanks!

[Cupid]

Yes, the incident was caused when Ebay took action against all Gixen servers asking everyone that bid via them to verify their account when using that address to bid from.

This is believed to have been caused by an over enthusiastic user of Gixens API that caused a much greater load on Ebay from Gixen for a short period without any bids being placed.

Yes, the instructions regarding proxy settings did originate from Gixen. You are correct that Gixen bids from its own servers, what setting up the proxy does is direct your own computers bidding via those same Gixen servers... and thus when Ebay asks you to perform more tasks because you are bidding exactly as Gixen does, then you are able to take the action they ask for.

The Ebay sanctions against Gixen were, thankfully, short-lived because Mario addressed the problem from within Gixen and hence there is no need for you to use the Gixen proxy at the moment... everything has been back to normal for the past few weeks with Ebay no longer requesting verification of accounts that bid via the Gixen swerers.
_________________
Mark

[mario]

To clarify - I don't think it was deliberate - I have never seen an ebay action that was aimed at sniping services. Rather sniping services were sometimes a collateral damage of ebay fighting fraudsters.