Automatic Bidding and how quickly a bid is done

[brhe3513]

I am new to Ebay, lost out on two items because I was going against auto generated bids.  I now am using it.  But, I do not understand how long it takes for Ebay to generate a new bid after another auto bid has been placed.  Right now it seems like it is taking 8 to 12 hours.  That does not seem right.

Does the bid intervals decrease as the end time approaches?

Would appreciate any advice that can be offered.

[eburtonlab]

eBay does not generate bids.

Bids are placed by users. eBay receives bids as they come in to various servers throughout the world, time stamps them, and compares the valid bids received to determine the high bidder, but only displays enough of the highest bidder's amount to beat the previous high bidder by up to one bidding increment. In most cases, the amount displayed does not correspond the actual bid amount -- that is just the amount that the high bidder will pay if there are no further bids at the end of the auction.

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/bidding/automatic-bidding?id=4014

Many bidders only bid at the end of the auction, and in many cases there will not be enough time to react to late bids and bid again if you are outbid.

Many veteran bidders suggest deciding in advance the maximum amount you are willing to spend, taking into account any shipping and taxes, and bidding that amount once, as late in the auction as you are comfortable with. If your amount is a round number, consider adding a few odd cents to lessen the likelihood of a tie, which would go to the earlier bidder.

If you bid your maximum amount and you are outbid, then the other bidder was willing to spend more than you were. There is no real benefit to bidding less than your maximum, since eBay will calculate the winning bidder's amount based on the second highest bidder's maximum bid amount.

[gosimus]

@brhe3513 

< I do not understand how long it takes for Ebay to generate a new bid ... taking 8 to 12 hours >     

I'm not sure what "generate" means, the way you used it.  I personally have more than 1,400 purchases, some by buy it now, but many, many by auction.  Every time I've ever placed a bid in an auction, my bid has registered immediately ... well, in milliseconds.  A millisecond is one-thousandth of one second.  If your question wasn't answered by @eburtonlab then come back and explain your problem in more detail.     

[woodland_gnome]

 What you need to know to understand how eBay  auctions work:

The highest bidder (as of the end of the auction) wins, regardless of when his bid is placed (even if it was received in the last second and didn't show on your screen when your countdown got to 0), but the price is set by the SECOND highest bidder (generally that underbidder's highest bid plus 1 bid increment; less if the winner's bid is not a full increment higher than the underbid, including an earlier tie; more if needed to meet the reserve in a reserve listing; the starting bid amount set by the seller if there is only 1 bidder and no reserve).

During the auction eBay calculates and posts a "current bid", which is simply what the price will be if there is no further bid activity before the auction ends, and uses that "current bid" to set a minimum amount for new bids (1 increment over the "current bid" except for the very first bid, which need only be at least the "starting bid" amount set by the seller).

During and after the auction, eBay hides the full amount of the leader's/winner's bid to the extent that it exceeds that calculated price. (If the winner/leader has made multiple bids, only those that exceed the price have their full amount hidden.) For any such hidden bid amount, eBay substitutes the calculated price amount for the full amount of the bid.

When you bid less than what the current leader has bid before you, you are immediately outbid and become the new underbidder and the "current bid" is recalculated at 1 increment higher than your bid (or the full amount of the previously hidden maximum if less than an increment over your new bid, including an earlier-placed tie--ties go to the earlier placed bid). When you bid more than what current leader has bid before you, you take the lead at 1 bid increment over his/her (previously hidden) maximum (or the full amount of your bid if it is less than a full increment over his previously hidden maximum; but if it was "Reserve not met" before you bid and your bid was at least as high as the previously unmet reserve price you take the lead at the exact amount of the reserve price unless the general rule would dictate a higher price because the previously hidden maximum was less than an increment below the reserve).

Some people, including eBay, try to simplify this by drawing an analogy to an outcry auction, but one where eBay automatically "places bids on your behalf" up to your maximum bid (hence the phrase "automatic bidding"). This is an imperfect analogy, and in many cases people trying to apply it to a particular situation end up either oversimplifying or overcomplicating the process leading to many misconceptions. If you want to understand how the eBay bidding process happens you need to get away from that analogy. (It is not necessary to understand it if you know and use the winning strategy below and are willing to accept the results as accurate even though you don't understand how they were arrived at.)

The only winning strategy on an eBay auction is to bid your real honest wouldn't-bid-an-increment-more TRUE maximum that you would pay for this particular item WITHOUT REGARD to what anyone else appears or doesn't appear to have bid. Since what anyone else has or will have bid by the time the auction ends is already figured into the price if you win, there is no need to try to figure it into your bid (other than to assume that someone else is likely to bid about the same amount as you, so it is a good tactic to bid a bit over the round number you likely have in mind as your true maximum to increase your odds of being on the winning side of what might have been a tie or a loss to someone who knows this tactic); all you need to figure is at what price point you would rather someone else get the item than you having to pay more. When you bid, early or late, or whether you put in a lesser bid(s) before your true maximum, those are tactical matters that may or may not influence the behavior of others (other bidders, potential bidders, and the seller) to your advantage or disadvantage.