Proxy
Bidding in Online Auctions:
Proxy Bidding is what
enables online auction websites to function. The auctions open at a
minimum fee set by the seller, and if you are the high bidder at the end
of the auction, you win. Online auction bidders enter a secret
maximum bid amount that they are willing to pay, and the servers at
auction sites like
ebay,
ubid,
Liquidation.com, etc will then place an incremental bid
on your behalf.
During an auction, if your bid is highest or it beats the next
high bid, it remains there without rising until the auction ends, unless
someone outbids you. If so, the the proxy bidding system will
automatically bid again on your behalf, up to your maximum in
increments,
until it beats all the other outstanding bids or until the auction ends.
If someone outbids your maximum amount and you notice before the end of the
auction, you can still change your bid amount to try and win. The
proxy bids will continue again until the set ending time of the auction, at
which point the highest bid wins.
Proxy bidding is great, because it's a "fire and forget"
system, where you
don't have to be home or even online when the auction ends to win- the
website's servers and software do it all for you.
Some special situations: In cases of a tie, whoever
bid the amount first wins. If a bid is retracted before the end of the
auction, and your bid price is next highest, you win. Or, if the
person retracting their bid is tied with you, you win.
See more on bid retraction at ebay.
An exception to all of these rules, is if the auction has
a secret reserve price set by the seller. If you meet the reserve
price, then you win the lot. And of course, all of these bids will be
useless if someone uses the Buy It Now
feature to buy the item before the auction ends or the reserve price is met,
if it is offered in the listing.
Caution: many auction
users employ an automatic bid sniper to beat
the proxy system at ebay and other sites. These are powerful and
effective tools, and if you've ever lost a prized auction lot to one, you
know the pain of which we speak. Read more on
bid sniping.
See more about Reserve Price Auctions
Read more about
Auction Searches
See tips for Online Auction Sellers
