Topics
Q: Why are there no results when I use Bidders' Bids for some listings even though there are bidders for the item?
A: If it's a private auction, the identities of the bidders are protected. There are also countries that don't allow eBay to reveal bidder information.
Q: My default browser is something other than Internet Explorer, can Prospector use it?
A: No, Prospector currently only integrates with Internet Explorer.
Q: I use an anonymous proxy (Proxomitron, etc.). Will there be problems?
A: Possibly. The HTTP filters in these proxies can interfere with the communication between Prospector's browsers and its web server. The proxy may be anonymizing access to your own machine, and specifically, can break the item tools in Result View.
There are two fixes you can make. Either one will work, but option #1 is preferable because it will leave your proxy settings intact.
Option #1:
1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. Go to the Tools menu and select Internet Options.
3. Click on the Connections tab.
4. Click on LAN Settings.
5. In the Proxy Server group box, you probably will have the "Use a proxy server..." checkbox checked. If not, please try option #2 and if there are still problems, please contact us.
6. Select the "Bypass proxy server for local addresses" checkbox.
7. Restart Prospector and verify that things are OK.
Option #2:
1. If your proxy server has a disable or bypass settings option, select that first and see if Prospector is OK. If not, please contact us. If Prospector does work, there is probably a particular setting that's causing the problem. If the filters are classified, it will likely be under filters for HTTP Headers.
For the Proxomitron proxy, for example, you will need to bring up the HTTP Header Filters and turn off (uncheck) the "URL: Enable Netscape Keywords (out)" option.
If these steps don't solve the problem, please contact support@moxieproxy.com.
Q: Can I add to the favorites menu or use my browser tools like Roboform?
A: Yes, just right click in the browser window to bring up the context menu.
Q: Why can't I access Prospector from another machine in my network?
A: For security reasons, the web server will only respond to clients that are running on the same machine.
Q: How can I access Prospector remotely?
A: You can use a remote desktop program. Some versions of Windows have Remote Desktop Connection built-in (Start menu / All Programs / Accessories / Communications / Remote Desktop Connection).
Q: Why isn't the item hidden immediately when I use the hide checkbox in a Result View?
A: In order to hide the item immediately, we would have had to redraw the page and this turned out to be too annoying. Hide operations in Result Views are therefore deferred. When you manually refresh the page, or navigate away and return to the page, the hidden items won't be visible.
Q: Why don't the item tools work while I'm in a Result View?
A: If you have an internet proxy set up, it can interfere with the communication between Prospector's browser and server. Please check the answer to web proxies above.
Q: I have carriage returns and tabs in my notes, why don't they show up?
A: These characters are converted into spaces.
Q: How can I increase performance?
A: The most common bottlenecks are network and memory. A broadband internet connection will yield the highest benefit, and having 1Gb or more RAM is recommended.
You can verify that the CPU is not a bottleneck by bringing up the Task Manager and observing the CPU graphs under the Performance tab. During searches, you're unlikely to see the CPU maxed out unless you have a very high speed internet connection. The lower the CPU numbers, the more the CPU is waiting for information from the network to work on.
Q: When searches are replayed, are real-time results shown?
A: The results are real-time whenever you replay searches.
Q: I just started Prospector. Why are the prices on my Watch List out of date?
A: By default, Prospector does not update your Watch List at startup but this is configurable through the Startup options in the Options dialog.
Q: How can I specify a category that's not on the category list?
A: The input box accepts category numbers. If you navigate to the category you're interested in on eBay, you can extract the category number from the internet address. For example, you might see an address such as:
http://listings.ebay.com/pool1/plistings/list/all/category1212/index.html?from=R11
The category number in this example - 1212 - has been bolded and this is the number that you can use.
You can also browse eBay's category page for category numbers.
Q: Is there a link that will let me change the sort order of the search results to Start Time in the List format?
A: Displaying the Start Time is an option that can be enabled through the Tools menu / Prospector Options / Results tab / Customize / Information tab. When Start Times are shown, there will be a link that lets you toggle between ascending and descending sort orders.
Q: How does Prospector report time? Why do I sometimes see times that are slightly off from what's in the auction listing? For example, an auction might be ending at 9:00am and Prospector reports it as 8:59am?
A: All times are reported relative to your machine time. Prospector doesn't synchronize your machine's clock, so there can be differences that will show up with the times that are reported.
Q: What do the 
and 
images in the Watch List mean?
A: is "reserve not met". is "reserve met at".
Reserve Met At
Prospector tracks when the reserve price is met because it is helpful to get some sense of the seller's valuation for an item. For instance, if the reserve for an item was met at $60 and the current price is now at $300, it might be an indication that bidding has gotten overheated.
This feature is not perfect:
| · | The assumption that "reserve approximates valuation" might be wrong - if there was a forced liquidation or fire sale perhaps, or if the seller doesn't know. |
| · | eBay does not provide the amount at which the reserve was met, and Prospector can only discover that there was a transition from "reserve not met" to "reserve met" when you do an update. The actual price at which the reserve was met is then somewhere in between the two amounts. So, the value of this capability decreases if you're in the habit of updating infrequently (perhaps if you do so only every couple of days). The feature is there nonetheless because of it's potential usefulness. |
Q: Why do I see the seller and bidders listed for the items that are on the Watch List but not for other items?
A: Prospector only fetches this information if it's on the Watch List or if you've looked at the listing for the item (for Auto Tracking purposes). This is done for good citizenship - there will be too much network traffic if it had to fetch this information for all items.