eBay Question

Gadgetman496

Might not be the correct place for this but I thought the computer users would answer this best. Please move if it's better suited elsewhere.

Have eBay changed the way you can bid recently?

I just placed a bid on an item but as soon as I hit the place bid button I was notified that I was outbid. I immediately placed a second bid but was again instantly outbid. On both occasions the higher biders bid date & time was older than my bids?

I suspect someone has a snipe in place? or is there something changed in eBay where you can place a maximum bid and it bids in increments?

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Qwerty?

It just that someone has already bid, and placed a Maximum bid. Therefore until you outbid there max, it will keep beating your bid.

Gadgetman496

Qwerty? wrote: »

It just that someone has already bid, and placed a Maximum bid. Therefore until you outbid there max, it will keep beating your bid.

OK, but is that something new?

I'm a long time user of eBay but haven't used it at all in recent times so I'm still a tad confused.

When I go to place a bid it asks me for my MAX bid (only option I'm getting) so are you saying that it now out bids the current bidder by increments or does it slap on my max bid instantly?

If this is the case? when did that come into play?

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fionnsda

gadgetman496 wrote: »

OK, but is that something new?

I'm a long time user of eBay but haven't used it at all in recent times so I'm still a tad confused.

When I go to place a bid it asks me for my MAX bid (only option I'm getting) so are you saying that it now out bids the current bidder by increments or does it slap on my max bid instantly?

If this is the case? when did that come into play?

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i think that has always been the case
what other way could it work?

Qwerty?

gadgetman496 wrote: »

When I go to place a bid it asks me for my MAX bid (only option I'm getting) so are you saying that it now out bids the current bidder by increments or does it slap on my max bid instantly?

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Yes exactly.

gadgetman496 wrote: »

If this is the case? when did that come into play?

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Thought it was always that way. Don't use Ebay very often, but its been that way for at least the last 6-12 months

Gadgetman496

fionnsda wrote: »

i think that has always been the case
what other way could it work?

That's not the way it used to be but checking thier FAQ section it has changed to

Incremental Bidding

Everyone wants to win, but only at the right price. Although we suggest that you bid the maximum amount that you’re willing to pay for an item, you could pay less. As the listing proceeds, we compare your bid to those of other bidders. When you’re outbid, we automatically bid on your behalf up to the maximum bid you have entered. Your bid is increased by increments only as much as necessary to maintain your high bid position.

They seem to have changed the BID option to a MAX BID option.

It used to be that the current highest bid was displayed & you had to bid higher than that. The person that you outbid had to manually enter another bid but they have semi automated it by getting you to enter your Max bid initially & they automatically bid on your behalf until your original max bid is reached.

The Small Print:

The small print

In reserve price auctions, if your maximum bid is at least the reserve price, we’ll automatically increase your bid to meet the reserve, and bidding will continue from there.

corkcomp

ive been using ebay for years and i've often seen that where you get an instant email upon placing a bid telling you that you have been outbid.. if another ebayer has an autobid above yours

Gadgetman496

corkcomp wrote: »

ive been using ebay for years and i've often seen that where you get an instant email upon placing a bid telling you that you have been outbid.. if another ebayer has an autobid above yours

I joined in 2003 & it wasn't automated then as far as I can remember.

It's been about a year and a half since I last used it though.

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Max Power1

fionnsda wrote: »

i think that has always been the case
what other way could it work?

Always been the way afair, I joined in 2006 i think!

jor el

gadgetman496 wrote: »

I joined in 2003 & it wasn't automated then as far as I can remember.

It's been about a year and a half since I last used it though.

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It has always been that way. You won't notice it unless you bid on something where another bidder has entered a higher maximum than you put down. Whatever increment value is set in the auction is the amount over your bid that the other person will show up as having placed. Until you place a maximum bid that's higher than their maximum (which you won't know the value of), then the other person will keep automatically out bidding you.