Review my bid

Question

I bid on item and I want item but you guys gave it to somebody else for 50 cents I will check my bed at the exact time at 6:53 this

Morning how could I lose I'm really disappointed I feel like I've been cheated

woodland_gnome · Answer

If you mean you lost by 50 cents, that most likely means that you bid in the $5.00 to $24.99 range and the other bidder bid AT LEAST 50 cents more than you did (the bid increment in that range is $.50 and the general price formula is the second highest bidder's highest bid plus 1 bid increment. You lost because the other bidder bid more than you did. Why would you think you were "cheated?"

Do not bid less than you are willing to pay expecting to be able to rebid if you are outbid. You are never guaranteed a rebid or timely notice that you were outbid. Bid your TRUE maximum that you are willing and able to pay for that particular item as listed (don't forget to back out shipping etc.) WITHOUT REGARD to what others appear or don't appear to have bid. There is absolutely no need to figure out what others have or haven't bid or might bid* in determining your bid amount, since it ALREADY will have been figured into the price if you win. While some claim tactical reasons to place a lower bid early in the auction and then wait until near the end to bid your full TRUE maximum, I advise bidding only 1 time (can't repeat it enough: at your TRUE maximum) because you are never guaranteed a rebid (and there are circumstances where the prior bid prevents a rebid on that same auction). For several reasons later bidding is better than early bidding (doesn't use up your Limits, keeps your options open, doesn't leave your hidden maximum available for others, including dishonest sellers, to probe by "nibbling" at it) and I recommend using a third party "snipe service" (do a websearch, there are reliable and secure ones that are free for limited use or there are different fee schedules that best suit your bidding quantity and ratio of wins) to place your bid during the last few seconds using eBay's API rather than the not especially reliable web interface or, worse, mobile app.

*(other than to assume someone else will value the item about the same as you, so bid a bit ABOVE any round or roundish number you come up with to increase your chances of being on the winning side of what might have been a tie or a loss to someone else who knows this tip)

lady_madonna · Answer

@bite-3061 The highest bidder wins the auction. You can look at the bidding history by going to the listing page, click on the # of bids and look at the bidding history to determine the situation.