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Posted By: Eric Brehm

One problem with having a "drop dead" time for an auction is that you end up with a sniping contest in the last few seconds. That is essentially the way it works on eBay. If all lots in a large auction closed simultaneously at a pre-determined time everyone would go crazy trying to get their final bids in. Having the clock re-set each time a bid is placed helps mitigate that problem, because it always gives the underbidder time to react.