Our clocks change twice a year going forward an hour to BST on the last Sunday in March and returning to GMT on the last Sunday in October, so this coming Sunday, the 26th of March, it all happens again at 0100hrs which will become 0200hrs.
Since 1916 British clocks have jumped forward an hour in the Spring and backwards in the Autumn. The only exceptions were during the Second World War (when double British Summer Time saw the clocks run two hours ahead) and a brief experiment from 1968 and 1971 (when the clocks went forward but did not go back). Still, twice a year, the time change confuses eBay sellers and the time that their Auctions will end.
The start of BST and your auction end time
Where the confusion arises for eBay sellers is that eBay will still give you the full duration for your listings that you pay for. If you start a seven day listing then it will run for precisely 168 hours. That means an auction started before 0100hrs next Sunday will appear to finish an hour later, but will still run for a full seven days. If you start your listing at 8pm this week, it will finish at 9pm (8pm plus one hour) if it ends after Sunday.
For many sellers using the fixed price format the time change will be largely irrelevant, especially if you use GTC listings. However, if you are a seller who times your listings to end at a specific time of day, start your listings an hour earlier than normal, if they will finish after Sunday, to ensure you get your optimal finish time.
Mothering Sunday
Incidentally, the 26th of March 2017 is also Mothering Sunday, which is always three weeks before Easter Sunday. Traditionally, Mothering Sunday was a day when people returned to their Mother church where they were baptised. It then then become associated with the one day a year servants were given a holiday and would get to see their mothers back in their home towns.
Make sure you change your clocks, so that you’re not an hour late, if you intend to pick your mum up and take her out for Sunday lunch!
