I am happy to announce a new release of AuctionSieve – 3.0.5!

This release

• Fix for New Today timeframe
• The app is now notarized for macOS 10.15 Catalina – if you’re having any issues getting AuctionSieve running on Catalina, download a fresh copy and re-install it

Happy bidding!

Nev

I am happy to announce a new release of AuctionSieve – 3.0.3!

This release

• Fix to remove empty ‘Sponsored’ item
• Fix for blank images
• Fix for blank hover images
• Fix for New Today time-frame (making it ignore Sponsored items)

Happy bidding!

Nev

I am happy to announce a new release of AuctionSieve – 3.0.2!

This release

• Fix for Watchlist/Price History info being incorrect

And from 3.0.1

• Fix for everything displaying as BINs and missing bids
• Fix for missing first page results due to eBay changes
• Fix to ignore extra results when zero in category
• Faster image downloading – thanks Rhett!

Important info for Mac users

If you are using a version of AuctionSieve before 3.0.0, download the newest version of AuctionSieve from http://www.auctionsieve.com/downloads/

Also, make sure you are running a recent version of Java, available at http://www.java.com/

Happy bidding!

Nev

I am happy to announce a new release of AuctionSieve – 3.0.0!

This release

• now supports Java 9 on macOS!
• has a fix for prices not showing in category sieves
• has rate limiting to get rid of eBay 503 errors

Important info for Mac users!

If you are using a Mac, download the newest version of AuctionSieve from http://www.auctionsieve.com/downloads/

Also, make sure you are running a recent version of Java, available at http://www.java.com/

Why a major version jump?

You may be wondering why the major version jump?

It’s a way to mark an important bump in technology – both Java and Mac.

Major version jump for Java

AuctionSieve now requires at least Java 6.

To make sure you are running a recent version of Java, just download the latest one available at http://www.java.com/

Most people even on older systems are able to update to at least Java 6.

Version 2.8.4 is the last version of AuctionSieve that will work with Java 5 and contains some special code to prevent updating unless your Java is updated.

Major version jump for Mac

I no longer support Mac OS X versions older than 10.5 (Leopard).

The installer has been modified to make use of the latest Java on your system and will no longer prompt to install the outdated Apple Java 6.

This means even Java 9 on the latest macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) is supported.

Please ensure you download the latest version of AuctionSieve from the download page instead of using the auto-update within the app.

With this release, you can now see large images without visiting eBay. It works whether you are displaying small or large thumbnails. It even works when “Download auction images” is turned off. Just put your cursor over the camera icon.

Here it is in action:

New feature – Search by private or business seller

Also, introduced in 2.7.6 is a new search option.

This is only applicable to certain eBay sites – mostly European. On these eBay sites you can specify the type of seller – private or business. Most people requested this feature because they want to only see results from private sellers. It’s more likely you’ll find interesting or bargain eBay items from private sellers!

I also cleaned up some code which means there should be a slight performance increase as well.
(For the geeks among you, I totally rewrote the code that constructs eBay search urls – eBay has made a bunch of changes to the formatting of these urls in the past and seems to have settled on a nice standard. They kept the old formats working – they’d just redirect – but it appears they’ve finally removed those redirects.)

I haven’t blogged about any of the releases since 2.7.0, so here are the release notes for all the intermediate versions:

New in 2.7.7
- See more details with larger images! Just put your mouse over an image to pop up a larger view
- Fix for larger image thumbnails not working

New in 2.7.6
- Fix for eBay changes – zero results issue
- New search option – restrict to private or business sellers
- Further fix for category based sieves
- Fix for some bad titles in category based sieves

New in 2.7.5
- Now displays placeholders for images so list doesn’t keep changing in size

New in 2.7.4
- Special Apple III edition

New in 2.7.3
- Another fix for category searches only returning 50 results

New in 2.7.2
- Fix for category searches only returning 50 results
- minor UI improvements
- renamed the ‘ignore already seen’ filter
- Got rid of old, no longer used stuff

New in 2.7.1
- Fix for prices appearing as BINs (and missing bids)
- Some minor UI cleanups to make it look better on Mac OS X
- Some other minor UI improvements

Happy bidding!

2.7.0 was released a while ago – it contained a bunch of fixes.

I wanted to write this note now because, in addition, I’ve just digitally signed the Mac OS X version.

On OS X versions prior to Yosemite – ie 10.9 Mavericks and earlier, the OS would complain that the app wasn’t signed. But you could still go ahead and run it.

On OS X 10.10 Yosemite, this is no longer the case. If an app is not signed, then by default GateKeeper will say the file is damaged and offers to move it to the trash. There were some workarounds to get it to run but that’s not the kind of user experience I like to provide!

So I’ve jumped through the hoops of signing up for the Mac Developer Program and figured out how to sign the app. And that’s what’s now available for download!

Nev

PS For any developers who are interested, I’m running this command:

codesign --force --sign "Developer ID Application: Hashbang etc ie my key" AuctionSieve.app

This is mostly a release full of fixes for eBay changes. I’ve also added more robustness to the retry mechanism.

New feature – Include store items

There is 1 new feature – a new search option to include store items.

Many years ago, eBay started adding store items and most users didn’t want to see them – most users of AuctionSieve are only interested in items from regular people, not resellers.

However, as stores have become more prevalent, including mom and pop stores, eBay have changed how they present store items – they’re mixed in with regular results in a more integrated way. This can lead to some confusion because it appears AuctionSieve doesn’t return the same number of items as the same search on eBay returns. It’s because store items are ignored. I’ve now provided a search option which enables you to include these items in the results.

Happy bidding (or buying if it’s a store item!)

Nev

Another minor release this time.

• new dialog when viewing first item to comply with eBay Partner Network policies
• fix for intermittent error when retrieving many sieves at once – thanks to David Cant
• fix for eBay changes – ignoring ‘More items related to’ – thanks Andrew Marchant and nose6767
• cleans up tmp files – thanks Ulf Hartwig

Nev

A minor release this time.

- Fix so people with older versions of Java (Java 5) can run it

- Note: To use Import/Export, you need Java 6 or later

Nev

It’s time for a fresh release! Here’s what’s in it (and some notes about 2.6.1 because I didn’t blog about it).

Fixes for eBay changes

• ‘New Today’ searches weren’t working properly
• ‘Preferred Location’ searches (eg European Union) likewise
• Items with price ranges (ebay UK only?) weren’t handled well. I’ve made AuctionSieve display the lowest value.
• From 2.6.1, fixes for some searches retrieving only 50 results, time frames not working and blank watchlist columns

New features

Export and Import!

For those who use AuctionSieve in multiple locations eg work and home, you’ll find this handy. Simply select File->Export as shown:

Then enter a file name, perhaps saving the results on a USB drive to take between home and work:

Select File->Import to load the results on another computer

New search option ‘Best Offer’

Only retrieves items where you can make an offer.

New Shortcut keystrokes

For convenience, I’ve added new shortcuts (these use the command-key on a Mac):

Note also that you can middle-click on a tab to close it.

Latest News and Click-able links

Lastly, to keep you informed on eBay issues and other news, I’ve created a Latest News feature you’ll see next time you run AuctionSieve.

In addition, all links in dialog boxes are now click-able.

I hope you enjoy all these new features!

Nev