Disable Mac OS X "app nap" for JoyBidder eBay Auction Sniper App

Since  Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks, Apple has introduced "app nap" feature to dynamically pause or slow down the app when it sees proper. The apps, that mostly likely to enjoy such "nap", would be some kind of app with long running back end process, minimum or no user interaction and not in the foreground. Obviously JoyBidder eBay Auction Sniper application falls into this category of apps that Apple has determined to make it an example to make the earth a little greener.
This is disastrous to eBay sniper program users, for obvious reason, even off by several seconds, you will miss the snipe. That was why in my previous post I have warned Mac user  about this and provided a workable solution.

Here is the screen shot to show how to disable "app nap" for JoyBidder eBay Auction Sniper Pro edition. This also applies to JoyBidder eBay Auction Sniper Free edition as well.

Also, the latest version of JoyBidder Pro and JoyBidder Free for Mac OS X, have an experiment implementation to automatically disable the "app nap". This is experimental, meaning, it might work for some, not working for others. Please test it out before you bet your lift on it. You best and safest bet is still to disable the "app nap" through Finder as shown in the above screen capture.

updated: eBay outage since last night and still on going

As of 9:00 AM PDT, eBay outage seems to have ended. You should now be able to login to eBay.
All JoyBidder server sniping and mobile eBay auction sniping service are currently restored and working.
JoyBidder Pro and JoyBidder Free users please restart the program and do the following.
1. go to JoyBidder User Manager
2. select the eBay ID
3. click the Save button (make sure "I am CAPTCHA'ed" option is un-checkec"
4. close JoyBidder User Manager
5. click Reload All toolbar button.
6. All the invalid / error status of items should be gone.
 

eBay outage since last night and still on going. You can get to the web site, but you cannot login to eBay. When you do, you will get the following.

This affects all JoyBidder eBay auction sniper service and product. Item cannot be updated and bid cannot be placed.

More information on this outage can be found here.
http://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2014/9/1410692548.html

How to submit a test snipe from JoyBidder eBay Auction Sniper program

Since version 1.9.71, JoyBidder Pro eBay Auction Sniper has implemented a new feature to let user to test the sniping before put it into real use.

In the Bid dialog, user can now set negative lead seconds, for example, -360. This will let the program to automatically submit the bid 360 seconds later.  See screen shot below

When you click the bid button, the confirmation dialog will be shown as below

360 seconds later, the bid is submitted. See screen shot below

Note that the time that are highlighted in red in the item activity log view, the difference is 362 seconds. It is not exactly 360 seconds, as it has the extra overhead of scheduling the bid at the beginning and retrieve the item status and latest price after the bid is submitted. This test indicates the sniping is successful.

You might be asked by product support to run this test, but even if not, it is a good practice to run such a test once a day to make sure there is nothing out of ordinary.

You can find official JoyBidder Test Auction listing in eBay for testing purpose.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/bidd.jo/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=joybidder&_from=R40&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313&_nkw=joybidder&_sacat=99

The test auction will be cancelled after it ends and will be re-listed. It will take some time for it appear in the eBay site and search result. So if you don't see them in the above two urls, doesn't mean they are not there. Just need to wait for eBay to finish its indexing process, so that is searchable and listed in the site.

Video Tutorial: JoyBidder eBay Auction Sniper Mobile Web app iPhone 5 iOS 7

How to

• Import eBay auctions from My eBay Watch list
• Restore auction item list from JoyBidder eBay Auction Sniper Pro Edition backup
• Navigate the auction item list
• Schedule snipe bid, cancel bid and delete auction
• Sort auction item list

 

Learn more about JoyBidder mobile and server products

• http://www.joybidder.com/joybidder-ebay-sniper-for-phone-and-tablet.php  
• http://www.joybidder.com/joybidder-server-sniping.php

Video Tutorial: JoyBidder eBay Auction Sniper import from saved eBay search

v0.9.9.3 is released. JoyBidder eBay Auction Sniper Beta available for Free on Google Play Store

Latest version v0.9.9.3 is released!

JoyBidder eBay Auction Sniper Free Android app is now in beta test

• First 5 snipes are free
• Afterwards, 1 bonus free snipe at a time for beta testers

Participate the beta test and get bonus free snipe

1. Join the JoyBidder eBay Auction Sniper Community
2. download and install the app to your Andriod smart phone or tablet.
3. Once you have opted-in, you will receive your test version through Google Play.

Or install the apk file of the app outside of Google Play

Not recommended, but if you don't want Opt-in process and knows how to install App outside Google Play, you can download the apk file (v0.9.9.3) here.

Pre-paid snipe credit

20 cents for each auction you won, or subscribe monthly for unlimited snipes. The pre-paid snipe credit never expires and can be used for JoyBidder server sniping service.

JoyBidder Server Sniping Service

Multiple-location server sniping service integrated with JoyBidder eBay Auction Sniper software, both Pro and Free edition, giving extra convenience and reliability.

JoyBidder Android App Video Demo

JoyBidder eBay Auction Sniper App for Android dev version screen shots

Screen shots from JoyBidder eBay Auction Sniper App v0.95 for Android.

Add or Import from eBay watch list

item status filter

eBay auction item list

auction item detail, schedule bid or cancel bid. landscape mode

auction item detail, schedule bid or cancel bid. landscape mode

sign in with eBay ID

If JoyBidder auction sniper cannot login to eBay because of CAPTCHA ...

After you change eBay password, you will likely get CAPTCHA when sign in to eBay.

JoyBidder cannot login to eBay if CAPTCHA is required. If JoyBidder cannot login to eBay, you cannot add or update eBay ID in JoyBidder, add/update items and obviously cannot bid.

Usually eBay removes CAPTCHA after you successfully login and logout several times and wait for some hours, or may be 1 day or even longer.

If you cannot wait, here is a temporary workaround for JoyBidder Pro. (This also works for JoyBidder Free for Firefox Addon, but not for JoyBidder Free desktop application)

1. DO NOT delete eBay ID from JoyBidder User Manager
2. (Optional) Backup item list using "Backup Data" feature from Help menu so we can restore later
   
   
3. Remove all items from JoyBidder Pro
   
   
4. Open JoyBidder Pro build-in web browser and go to the eBay site you want to login to. (JoyBidder imports watch list from the default eBay site listed in the JoyBidder User Manager, so make sure you are login to that site)
   
5. Sign out from eBay JoyBidder build-in web browser.
6. Sign in your eBay ID in JoyBidder build-in web browser, enter CAPTCHA, and select "Stay Signed In".
   
   
7. Enable "I am CAPTCHA'ed" option in JoyBidder User Manager. (Requires JoyBidder Pro 1.9.46 and above)
   
   
8. Restart JoyBidder (and Firefox if using JoyBidder Firefox extension). Verify the workaround works by importing eBay watch list.
   
9. If you restart JoyBidder, verify if you are still signed in the build-in web browser. If not,  repeat the steps.

Because you login to eBay successfully manually through JoyBidder build-in browser, JoyBidder won't try to and don't need to login on your behalf again. It cannot, anyway, since it won't pass the CAPTCHA process.

Now, you should be able to import watch list and bid and do what you normally with JoyBidder.

IMPORTANT
BUT, remember, this is a temporary solution, because even if you are signed in and select "Stay Signed in" in build-in web browser, eBay can still sign you out anytime it wants. Until CAPTCHA is removed and  you have successfully update your eBay ID and password in JoyBidder User Manager, JoyBidder not longer can login you in automatically.  However, until you are sure CAPTCHA is no longer required, don't go to User Manager to update your eBay account information or . If you do, you could be signed out and need to go through the above steps again. On the other hand, once CAPTCHA is removed, please disable the "I am CAPCHA'ed" option ASAP.

[fixed] bug alert: wrong shipping cost

eBay shipping cost is incorrect in JoyBidder Pro 1.9.36. Many eBay auction items will appear to be Free shipping, which is incorrect. Fixing now.

Latest update: This bug is fixed in 1.9.37. Please remove items and add them again to JoyBidder to show the correct shipping cost. See the latest release note for JoyBidder eBay auction sniper Pro edition.

JoyBidder Auction Sniper screen shots from iPhone Safari

Updated to version 0.5.3.

Here are more screen shots of JoyBidder eBay Auction Sniper Mobile Web taken right from my iPhone 5.

Read here to learn more about how to use JoyBidder to snipe eBay auction from mobile device

Snipe eBay auctions using JoyBidder mobile web app

JoyBidder eBay Auction Sniper Mobile Web App is in beta test now.

It can

• snipe eBay auctions
• import items from your eBay watch list
• add items by eBay item number(s)
• refresh item list
• sort and filter item list

It has less features than JoyBidder Pro Desktop and not as fast.

However, it runs on the web browser of your mobile device and doesn't need to be kept running to snipe. It should be useful for many of us.

It is in beta testing now accepting a limited number of testers.  Contact joybidder.support@gmail.com, if you want to participate the free beta trial. Each beta tester gets 5 free server sniping credits to use for testing.

Load http://www.joybidder.com/mobile  in your iPhone/iPad/Android or desktop web browser and give it a try

[update] slow connectivity to our web site

If JoyBidder.com is slow to load since last night, so this is what is happening.

"The connection is broken of at a node in the middle of the network pathway (in between some Internet providers and our data center)".  

The IT guys at our hosting service is working on it. See the screen capture of the announcement from our web site admin console. The server sniping and cloud backup and restore service are still working, although it could be slower and you may need to try one or two more times get the data submitted successfully.

Only a small portion of our users are affected.



Updated May, 5th, 2014
The problem is still not yet resolved. Looks like Comcast users are affected the most.

Introduce JoyBidder Server Sniping Service

What is JoyBidder Sniping Service?

JoyBidder sniping service submits sniping bids from server, so you don’t need to keep JoyBidder Pro running on your own computer to snipe. You need both a valid JoyBidder Pro license and adequate pre-paid snipes to use the service. The service is optional. Don’t buy pre-paid snipes if you don’t plan to use this service. More info on server sniping.

The pricing of the service is following