OT Ebay. What does it mean when something has 9 bids by the same person, with the 2nd and each bid after that about 10 seconds, as little as 6 seconds, after the previous bid?
You can't bid again unless you bid more, so is 6 to 10 seconds enough to increase the amount and bid again?
And why would someone do that?
There are no competing bidders so the amount showing as the bid is still the required starting bid.
Or a badly programmed bot.
It might be someone new to ebay. I am thinking that when you place a bid it pops up with a note that you may be out bid and do you want to raise your bid.
I don't bid on Ebay, but I would guess it's the seller trying to up the price.
Someone who wants to get just over the minimum bid? Is that posted on this item?
I believe what you're witnessing is called "proxy bidding" which, in Ebay terms means that the Ebay software will automatically place the required bid for you up to the maximum bid you enter.
Example:
Auction lot is at $10.00 with $0.50 increments.
You determine that you're willing to spend a maximum of $17.50 for the item and enter that as your bid.
The bidding is at $10 and increments by $0.50 so YOUR bid immediately shows up at $10.50 then the software checks the other bidders and finds that the guy who bid $10.00 is in it for a max of $15.00 so it will enter a bid from him at $11.00 and so it goes.
If we assume that the two of you are the ONLY bidders, the bid will climb to $15.50 in a heartbeat and then stop there with you being the current high bidder until somebody else joins in and posts a bid of $16 at which time your bid for $16.50 will be entered.
It's just like a real auction.
Most savvy bidders use "sniping" software which monitors the bidding action and doesn't place ANY bid at all until the waning seconds of the auction. I've scored some really decent buys by not placing my bid until the last 5 seconds of the auction.
Why not post a link to the auction so we can actually see what you are seeing?
He said there was only one bidder so the proxy bidding would not come into play unless there is another bidding.
Exactly. Thus the reason I asked for the link so we can see for ourselves.
+1 This would not be the first time that Micky has pitched a curve ball
So, while I agree with Ralph, let's pretend we're from Missouri and let Micky give us the auction number so we can see what's really happening.
In that same vein, if there truly is only ONE bidder, it would make no sense for the seller to run up the bid against himself, as some have suggested. Nor would it be possible, I don't believe. The proxy bidding would prevent that from the same bidder and if the seller was playing a game with multiple bidding accounts then there would obviously be more than a single bidder.
How about it, Micky, show us the auction number please.
I don't know if this applies exactly, but here is a response I got from E-Bay back in 2006 which says there is no way you can bid against yourself, and then gives a couple of examples where you are, in fact, bidding against yourself (or with the same result: your bid was highest, and then it is increased without a competing higher bid). Jerks!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear eBay Member,
Thank you for writing eBay in regard to your concern about know how did you bid against yourself. I will certainly clarify this to you.
I have checked the bid history for the item and found that you have been outbid on this item. I do understand that you were already the high bidder at $27.49 and you raised your maximum bid. This also raised your bid amount to $28.20 with no one else bidding and you are now noticing as if you have bid against yourself.
Let me inform you that, there is no way to bid against yourself. The eBay system will protect you from bidding against yourself. However, there are a few situations where it can *look* like you're bidding against yourself. Let me give some examples:
It would appear that you are bidding against yourself, if the current high bid is between bid increments. *******As you were the high bidder in this situation and you placed another bid, your bid has increased to the next round bid increment.********* To see a list of bid increments, please go to:
The high bid will always try to be a full bid increment over the next highest bid. If you are less than one bid increment over the next highest bid, then raising your maximum bid will increase the current high bid to a full bid increment above the next highest bid.
Another instance where it would look like you're bidding against yourself is suppose you and another bidder bid the same maximum bid. Our system will declare a high bidder based on whoever submitted the high bid first. If you submitted the high bid first -- and then placed another bid -- our system will increase your bid by one bid increment over your previous bid. ******This is necessary so you can keep your spot as the high bidder.***** WTF??**** In this case, it may appear that you bid against yourself. But in reality, your bid was placed against the other bidder's high bid.
Reserve Price items are another exception. If you're bidding on a Reserve Price Auction and your maximum bid amount meets or exceeds the reserve price, your bid will automatically rise to meet the reserve price. It won't exceed the reserve price unless another member bids against you.
For example, let's say there is a Reserve Price Auction with an opening bid of $5 and a reserve amount of $30. If you make a maximum bid of $35, you would become the high bidder at the reserve price of $30 because your bid met the seller's reserve price. If another member then bid $31, your bid would automatically rise to $32 and so on, until your maximum bid of $35 was reached.
Thank you for being a valuable member of the eBay community.
Sincerely, Kyle M.
eBay Customer Support
I probably would have bidded one dollar more, but I forgot until 20 minutes after the auction, and the first and only bidder got it for his first bid. No big deal. There will be more.
I'm sure he could increase his bid 8 times, but I don't think he could do it in only 6 seconds or even 10 seconds. Though maybe his connection is a lot faster than mine.
Or that he would even if he could.
Another reason I didn't rush to bid, because I think he must have increased the bid 8 times.
If someone else can bid less than an increment above your bid, I think this one makes sense. And I think he could if he bid before you bid what is now your highest bid, although if that were the case, why isn't he the leading bidder? Okay, it doesn't make sense. At least not yet. If he bid at exactly the same time you made your previous bid, not the most recent one, why wasn't he the high bidder? Since your previous bid was less than his bid, less than an increment less, but less nonetheless.
I agree with you here. Why can't they just leave you as the high bidder with the bid that ties the other guy but was submitted first? You were high then, why shouldn't you still be high now?
This example is not an example.
You're welcome.
Thanks for finding and posting this.
When a person bids, they can set a limit to their bid but it won't increase unless another bids. For example, if an item is currently at $30 and a person bids $40, the bid increment will stat at the required limit such as $31. Therefore, the bid is at $31 because it's past the limit of the $30 bidder. If you come along and bid $32, you'll be outbidded because the previous bidder made his limit to $40. If you try again at $33, you'll receive the same message you've been outbidded. Some people trying a $1 or $2 bidding increment only to receive the message repeatedly until they pass the previous bidder's limit of $40 and they then become the current highest bidder, if they take it that far.
Look at the link that Micky posted and explain how your explanation fits the specific auction. 1 bidder, bidding the same price ($25) 9 times in a 2 minute period. Even when you opt to see the automatic bids, there are none, just the same 9 bids from the same bidder.
That it says 25 on each line could not mean that the bid amount each time is 25. If it showed the bid, then other bidders would know how high each other bidder was willing to go. It only shows what the high bid in effect is after each (maximum) bid has been made, and the high bid in effect stayed at 25.
You provided a link to a closed auction. I thought the bid history on a closed auction showed the actual bids. I just watched a recent auction and waited until it closed, then looked at the bid history and it showed each individual bid. See here.
I'm no ebay expert, but if I look at that bid history and see all the individual bids, doesn't that mean that the link you provided also shows each individual bid?
Once the auction is closed, the concept of hiding the maximum bid entered by a user no longer applies.
I looked at it too and see no reason for the multiple bids, just one bidder, all the same price, etc. Looks like some kind of software glitch to me.
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