eSnipe News

As part of our mission to make your accounts more secure and reliable, we are removing the ability to access your eSnipe account with your eBay username and password. This feature has been in effect over the last several years but is quickly being phased out with our new security changes.

Take action now! Soon, you will no longer be able to log in to eSnipe with your eBay username and password.

When you created your eSnipe account, you provided an eSnipe LOGIN username and password as well as your eBay username and password. These two sets of information are maintained separately and do not have to be the same. Since eBay passwords are being removed from eSnipe, you will no longer be able to use them to gain access to your eSnipe account.

Please ascertain your eSnipe LOGIN name and, if need be, reset your eSnipe password to something you can remember. There are two ways to do this:

1. Go to our main LOGIN box on our home page. Click 'Forgot your password' link. On the next page, click "I forgot my eSnipe username". Enter the email address associated with your eSnipe account in the box and click the 'Continue' button. You will be sent an email to the given email address with your eSnipe username. Once you have your username, you can click the first option on the 'Forgot your password' page, "I forgot my eSnipe password". Here, you will enter your eSnipe username and click the 'Continue' button. You will be sent a password reset link. Follow the instructions in the email to reset your eSnipe LOGIN password and log in to your account.
2. While logged in to your eSnipe account, click the SETTINGS tab in the horizontal menu. Next, click the PASSWORD tab. Here you will see the pertinent data for your eSnipe account with your password hidden behind asterisks. If you need to update your password, click the 'Edit (Change Password)' button. Enter the new password in the box and click 'Update'.

These changes are coming about quickly. Please do not be caught unawares. Take action now to update your eSnipe LOGIN information if you do not know what it is.

eSnipe is making your account massively more secure and reliable. Most of this has taken place under the surface but the last part is up to you. What's the big change? From here on out, only eBay will have your eBay password. eSnipe will no longer have copies of that information. This means you will now need to tell eBay it's okay for eSnipe to make bids on your behalf (also called "authorizing" eSnipe).

Don't worry about bids you've already scheduled. They will execute as usual. But you won't be able to place any more bids until you've authorized your account.

How to Authorize your Account: quick version

The fastest, easiest way to authorize your account is to click eBay Settings, click the big Authorize eBay Account button and follow directions. That's it!

Pro Tip: If you have more than one eBay account you use with eSnipe you will need to authorize them one at a time.

How to Authorize your Account: step-by-step with full explanations

If you're nervous about why eSnipe is asking you to do this, or if you're a power user who wants all the inside info, here's what's going on.

eSnipe no longer stores eBay passwords. Only eBay has this information now.

A quick reminder. eSnipe is independent from eBay and always has been. eSnipe makes bids on eBay for you, which meant that eSnipe has always kept a copy of your eBay login information. This had two problems: it meant you had to keep your login information current on both sites, and it doubled the possibility that your eBay information could be stolen.

Authorizing your eBay account for use with eSnipe means that only eBay stores your eBay password. Keep in mind that if you change your eBay password you'll be asked to do this authorization step again.

One login from now on

Most eSnipe users log in with their eSnipe account information. Some users knew they could also log in to eSnipe using their eBay account information, which mean two separate ways to log in. From now on, you can only log in using your eSnipe account information.

Why can't you log in with your eBay account information anymore? Because eSnipe no longer knows anything about your eBay account. It's all on eBay's servers. eSnipe has permission to use eBay's services to make bids for you, period. So logging in to eSnipe now requires you to use your eSnipe account.

Incredibly good news: reliability increases

Now that eBay knows it's okay for eSnipe to bid for you, eBay will no longer block eSnipe or put up captchas due to concerns about a computer that is not your own placing bids. eBay now knows that eSnipe is authorized to bid for you. The problems eSnipe had with this a few months ago are eliminated.

An illustrated guide to authorizing your eBay account

• Log into eSnipe as usual
• Choose Settings, then eBay

• Choose your eBay username
• Click the big Authorize button. You're taken to eBay and asked to sign in:

• Log in with your eBay (NOT eSnipe) username and password. You're taken to a page that says "Grant application access: eSnipe". A big version of the eSnipe logo appears underneath it.

• Click the big blue Agree button

You're taken back to eSnipe. Your username now appears in a different color, and you will see the words Re-Authorize with an expiration date.

Re-Authorize means everything went right. Congratulations. You no longer need to trust eSnipe with your eBay login information. It is now stored with eBay.

FAQ

Q. I already have some bids scheduled! Will this screw them up? A. Don't worry! The bids you already placed will be executed. But you won't be able to place any more bids until you follow these steps to re-authorize your account.

Q. I used to be able to log into eSnipe with my eBay username and password. Why can't I do that anymore? A. You are now required to log into eSnipe using only your eSnipe username and password because eSnipe no longer stores your eBay login information. It's all on eBay. It may seem a little inconvenient but it comes with a HUGE advantage: your eBay user ID information is now managed on eBay, not eSnipe. That means less risk, because it's stored in just one place: eBay. You no longer have to keep them synchronized on eSnipe.