EBay Automatic Bidding

[Jacko]

Guys,

 

I was a little confused as to how exactly the automated bidding worked on Ebay (maybe its cos I'm stupid?). I'd bidded for stuff and seen the increments jump in big quanties that left me thinking, "Why didn't it just go up by a tenner rather than that £50 etc"

 

Anyway, I mailed them and asked. Here's the response:-

 

Hello,

 

Thank you for writing to eBay. I understand your concern regarding

setting preferences to avoid large bid increments in proxy bidding

(automated bidding).

 

I would like to advise you that there is no such preference settings in

proxy bidding. Infact the system places bids on your behalf, using only

as much of your bid as is necessary to maintain your high bid position

(or to meet the reserve price). The system will bid up to your maximum

amount.

 

There are two exceptions if a bid jumps more than you expect. The price

can rise by more than the next bid increment if you are bidding against

someone who has put in a proxy bid higher than the next increment. The

price can also jump higher than the next increment on a reserve price

listing if your proxy is above the reserve then the price will jump to

the reserve price.

 

Sometimes a bid jumps more than you expect because of eBay's proxy

bidding system.

 

How proxy bidding works:

When you placed your proxy bid, you effectively told the proxy bidding

system the highest amount you were willing to pay for the item. At the

time you placed your bid, another proxy bid was already in place from

another bidder. When you placed your high bid, the system raised the bid

amount to one bid increment over the maximum bid of the previous high

bidder.

 

An example:

Say you bid on an item with a current high bid of £5.00. If you place a

£25.00 maximum bid on the item, the system will automatically outbid

anyone else that bids on the item by one bid increment, up to your

maximum bid. So, if someone had already set his or her high bid for that

item at £10.00, the system will automatically raise your bid to the next

bid increment of £10.50. You would remain as the high bidder.

 

However, if someone comes along and bids £30.00, then the bidding system

would raise one bid increment above your maximum bid of £25.00.

Therefore, the current bid amount would jump from £10.50 to £26.00 (one

bid increment over your maximum bid).

 

I understand that this can seem a little confusing at first. However,

once you've placed a few bids on eBay, you will see that it makes

perfect sense. Our proxy bidding system allows you to tell us the

highest amount you are willing to pay for an item, and we'll take care

of the rest!

 

For further information on Proxy Bidding please go to the following

page:

 

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/buy/proxy-bidding.html

 

I trust that this information has been useful to you. If you have any

further questions please do not hesitate to contact us again.

 

Kind regards,

 

Evan V.

eBay Customer Support

____________________

 

Hope that helps anyone else confused!

[Liam's Z]

What's your latet purchae then mate? Have you spotted them wing badges

[Jacko]

What's your latet purchae then mate? Have you spotted them wing badges

 

Yeah thanks for them Liam. I've got some custom ones coming from the states along with a blue billet oil cap, that should land any day now.

I may buy that one anyway, just in case. But thanks for the heads up....

 

Regarding Ebay, I was thinking about bidding for a Plasma TV.... just missed out in the end. Good deal, but not that bothered yet.

[Liam's Z]

Ebay is a form of gambling you know!!! Can become addictive

[Jacko]

Ebay is a form of gambling you know!!! Can become addictive

 

erm I know, I think I've found that out!