Explain how an auction works cus this doesn't make sense

[briabian]

I put in my max bid in this case $75. Up until 10 seconds before the end of the bidding the high bid is $43. At 1 second left the bid is now $74. The bidding ends. And I lose to a $76 bid? Eventhough a $74 was the last number shown? 

How do I win an auction when any bid I make gets outbid post auction end?

This doesnt make sense to me.

I understand people like to snipe but how does the high bid increase AFTER the end of the bidding time???

Explain it to me like I'm  5. I havent been using ebay that long.

[briabian]

Yea so watching an auction is meaningless. Just set it and forget it.

Understood.

[stainlessenginecovers]

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@briabian wrote:

Yea so watching an auction is meaningless. Just set it and forget it.

Understood.

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Welcome to 2024. 

[buyselljack2016]

Many of us do not "set it and forget it".

What we do is wait as long as we think we can and still get the bid in.

If you had waited until 4:59: 53, and placed your max bid you likely would have not been "nibble bid outbid".

Bidding early just allows more chances to be outbid.

[stainlessenginecovers]

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@buyselljack2016 wrote:

Many of us do not "set it and forget it".

What we do is wait as long as we think we can and still get the bid in.

If you had waited until 4:59: 53, and placed your max bid you likely would have not been "nibble bid outbid".

Bidding early just allows more chances to be outbid.

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 That actually totally depends on if you REALLY want something, or you are just trying to 'gamble' to get a GOOD deal.

If you really want something, input the MAX you are willing to pay, and wait. If it sells for MORE than what you bid, then you need to think: "good for the seller, I was not willing to pay that much"

If you are trying to 'just get a good deal and gamble on bidding'- then you get what you get.

[monroe67]

"Sounds to me like watching an auction end to see if I need to raise my bid is meaningless. Just set my max as high as I want and forget the auction exists until it ends is the strategy."

BINGO !!  but only to an extent.  
You can still watch the auction and see if other people's bids are getting close to or gone over yours.
If you still want the Thing and think you can afford to pay more than your previous high bid, you might still try to change your max bid within the remaining time, and hope for the best.  

Sometimes you will win an auction and sometimes you will lose.  You must always remember that there are other people in the world besides just yourself, people who might have more money on hand or higher credit limits than you do -- and they also want that Thing as much as or even more than you do.  

[kathiec]

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@briabian wrote:

Sounds to me like watching an auction end to see if I need to raise my bid is meaningless. Just set my max as high as I want and forget the auction exists until it ends is the strategy.

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Exactly. And no, server lag time didn't bleep you. Not bidding your true max bid bleeped you. It's been decades since watching an auction end to raise your bid worked.

[ryry-jj]

The maximum bids by other  were all placed while the auction was live...you just don't see  it until it ends who had the highest maximum bid.  For all you know, unless looking at the bid history, the $74 may have been the same bidder who won with $76...and his max may have been $100 for all we know.  The only thing we do know about your bid is it needed to be greater than the $76...how much greater?  we don't know

[albertabrightalberta]

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@briabian wrote:

Yea so watching an auction is meaningless. Just set it and forget it.

Understood.

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Not necessarily is watching meaningless. 

It's not meaningless if you're watching in order to snipe (place your bid) in the last few seconds. You just need to keep in mind that your computer clock may be off from ebay's clock so you'll need to keep refreshing the page and allowing an extra second or two to allow for the discrepancy in times.

[wastingtime101]

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@briabian wrote:

So ebay server lag time **bleep**ed me is what I am gathering here

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The winner's bid was placed one second before the end of the auction. Even if their bid displayed on your screen instantly with zero lag, you would not have had any time to place a higher bid @briabian .

So if you want to do the watch and wait method, what you could do next time is place another bid at the end of the auction (last 15-30 sec) and make it as high as you're willing to pay, even if you're currently the high bidder. That way if someone else is trying to snipe at the end, you won't have to worry about not enough time to react to their bid. You'll either win with your max bid or you won't.

[ry91214]

I am now convinced that watching an auction tick down to zero and think that it is over when the screen shows 0 and "You are the winner" is merely a mirage! Tonight I won an auction for what should have been $8.51. I mean, I actually witnessed the clock countdown to zero, and the auction ended with me as the winner. (I had put down an extra $5 or total of $13.51 for security just in case). After seeing that there were no more bids entered before it ended I put my phone down, and went on to do other things. I just opened my ebay app, prepared to pay $8.51 plus probably $5 for shipping. I see my card was charged for $19+ automatically. **bleep**? I was able to look up the bids. It says someone entered a bid that took the previous highest $8.51 all the way up to my max bid. I am glad I got the card, but it is misleading, used up all of my money, and it took place after the auction had ended. Like I said, I watched it end. It would be nice if I could make a call and get a reasonable explanation. Unfortunately, the customer service people know less than I do, and don't have the capacity to understand or to actually provide answers or resolution, which only frustrates me further. I guess just venting about my situation may help. Hopefully someone else will get a laugh, because they have been screwed in the same way. It would make me feel like things were on the up-and-up, if eBay used timers that would end the auction when the time hits 0, and not charge me an extra $5 after the fact. Technicality or not, that is pure **bleep**. 

[briabian]

I know that feel. I dont get it. I might just not bother with auctions much anymore. Seeing my auction end and then seeing it raise the bid after the end is just ridiculous.

[albertabrightalberta]

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@ry91214 wrote:

I am now convinced that watching an auction tick down to zero and think that it is over when the screen shows 0 and "You are the winner" is merely a mirage! Tonight I won an auction for what should have been $8.51. I mean, I actually witnessed the clock countdown to zero, and the auction ended with me as the winner. (I had put down an extra $5 or total of $13.51 for security just in case). After seeing that there were no more bids entered before it ended I put my phone down, and went on to do other things. I just opened my ebay app, prepared to pay $8.51 plus probably $5 for shipping. I see my card was charged for $19+ automatically. **bleep**? I was able to look up the bids. It says someone entered a bid that took the previous highest $8.51 all the way up to my max bid. I am glad I got the card, but it is misleading, used up all of my money, and it took place after the auction had ended. Like I said, I watched it end. It would be nice if I could make a call and get a reasonable explanation.

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@ry91214 

Please post the item number of that listing you won. We will look at the bidding history and explain why the listing ended and NO BIDS were placed after the auction ended. 

[ry91214]

Thank you for your willingness to look into this for me. The item number is 156503795792

I don't doubt that there is a reason. But the bid should be shown on my screen before my screen shows zero time left and I am declared a winner. The amount was still in the $8 range. 

Thank you in advance,

Eric

[wastingtime101]

Another bidder placed a bid of $13.01 6 seconds before the end of the auction, which activated your proxy bid of $13.51 to make you the winner.

https://www.ebay.com/bfl/viewbids/156503795792?item=156503795792

As explained earlier in this discussion, those bids coming in at the very end don't necessarily appear immediately. It can take a minute for the system to process the updates.

Any time I win an auction in the last minute, I always wait couple min then refresh the page to see if the info stays the same.

Not saying I like the way that works, but because I know that's how it works I can set my expectations to account for it.