You’ve reached a temporary buying restriction.

[sammerritt91]

I'm a new user and have never purchased anything through eBay. I set up an account and started bidding in hopes of getting a new phone. I've bid on 3-4 items and have lost all auctions. I now have 

"reached a temporary buying restriction". In other forums I've seen where it's recommended that you add a second form of payment to the account so I now have to different payment forms. What else can be done?

[flyinhawaiiangirl]

were you bidding on 3 or 4 different phones at the same time?

[mudshark61369]

@sammerritt91,

All new buyers have what ebay calls "open transaction limits".  An open transaction definition is any bid on an on going auction, or any item purchased using buy it now, that is not yet paid for.  You get 4 or 5 open transactions to use at any one time. If you bid on an auction, and it ends you get that open transaction back to use.  The best way to win auctions, is to bid on the last day, and place one bid for the most you are willing to pay for the item. That is called Automatic bidding. eBay will only use enough of your bid to keep you in the lead, until you either win, or get outbid.  When you get more comfortable with the site, you can bid in the last seconds of an auction, that is called "Sniping". 

Keep one thing in mind, when you bid on an auction, your bid is good until the auction ends, even if you are outbid.  A seller could cancel a person's bid, or a member may retract a bid, and you could end up being the winner.  Never bid on another of the same item you have already bid on, until the first auction has ended. Read the information in the links below. Especially, the one about retracting bids. That should not be done unless absolutely necessary.

https://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/limits-on-buyers.html

https://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/bidding-overview.html

FYI, be very careful about bidding on phones.  Those are some of the riskiest things to buy on eBay.  Read about the money back guarantee (MBG) below so you know what to do if you do not receive an item, or it is not as described.  Never buy phones from a seller located in China or a brand new seller.  If you search the topics on these boards about smart/cell phone problems, or buying from china.  You will find out why there are so many issues with phone purchases, or buying from china.

https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/money-back-guarantee.html