The automatic bidding system will automatically place a bid for the item being sold when another bidder outbids your offer. The bid made by the automatic bidding system is always equal to the minimum bid increment for the item, and the increment amount cannot be changed.
ARTICLE CONTENT:
- How the automatic bidding system works
- How to enable the automatic bidding system
- Example of how the automatic bidding system works
- How to disable the automatic bidding system
How the automatic bidding system works
With the automatic bidding system, you can set an upper limit for the highest bid the system will make on your behalf, always based on the item’s minimum bid increment after your previous bid is outbid.
The system does not reserve your chosen maximum bid for you. The maximum bid is simply the upper limit up to which the system can bid on your behalf.
When you have made the latest and highest bid, the automatic bidding system waits. When another bidder raises the bid, the system immediately places a new bid for you, equal to the minimum increment. The automatic bidding system essentially works the same way as a real bidder, raising the bid in turn with other bidders up to your set maximum.
The automatic bidding system can no longer place a higher bid for you when the maximum limit has been reached or another bidder has already made a bid equal to your maximum.
The automatic bidding system does not place bids without competition, so if no one outbids your highest bid, the system will simply wait.
How to enable the automatic bidding system
- Log in with your own username
- Open the auction listing page, carefully review the listing and the information provided about the item
- Decide in advance the maximum amount you are willing to pay for the item
Enter your desired amount in the Automatic bidding system field:
- Confirm your maximum bid by clicking Activate
Example of how the automatic bidding system works
Imagine you are willing to bid a maximum of €5,000 for an item and you have set up the automatic bidding system for this amount. The minimum increment for the item is €50.
The previous highest bid for the item is €1,000, so after activation, the automatic bidding system will place a bid of €1,050 on your behalf. When another bidder raises the bid (to €1,100), your system will immediately place a bid of €1,150.
If more bids are placed, the system will continue to bid in turn with other bidders up to your set maximum bid.
Please note that if your automatic bidding system has placed a bid of €4,950 and another bidder offers €5,000, the automatic bidding system will not be able to bid any higher because the limit has been reached. The maximum amount you set in your automatic bidding system cannot be reserved for a single user; instead, bids in the auction will increase freely based on bidder behavior.
Multiple bidders are using the automatic bidding system
When multiple bidders have activated the automatic bidding system, the systems will place bids in turn, immediately after each other. This continues until one of the automatic bidding systems reaches its maximum limit, or a user disables their automatic bidding system.
Example:
Two users set the same maximum bid of €10,000 for an item, with a minimum increment of €100. Both automatic bidding systems will compete by placing bids in turn. Who wins the item depends on which bid each started from and in what order the users activated their automatic bidding systems.
The user who activated the system first will make the first bid, and when the second user activates their system, it will place a bid immediately after. The systems will then alternate bids up to €10,000. If there were no previous bids or manual bids in between, the item will go to the user who activated their system second.
The system cannot place the final bid at the maximum limit
It is possible that the automatic bidding system cannot place the final bid for you at the amount you have set as the maximum limit.
This is because the next bid according to the minimum increment would exceed your maximum bid limit. The auction’s minimum increment cannot be changed, so if the required increment is greater than the remaining amount in your automatic bidding system, no higher bid can be placed.
How to disable the automatic bidding system
When you have enabled the automatic bidding system, the following will appear in the bid window on the item’s page: You are using the automatic bidding system. Below this, there is a button Remove, which you can click to disable the system.
Remember to log in so that the features available to your user account are active.