Understanding the Bid History List

The Bidding History, viewable on any auction detail page, provides a view of the bidding that takes place while the auction is active. It displays each user's Maximum Bids along with proxy bids (bids placed by the computer on behalf of the current high bidder.)

Maximum Bids

A maximum bid is the highest amount entered by a customer either through the default bid increment or an autobid prior to being over bid by another customer.

Proxy Bids

A proxy bid, or an auto-bid, is a bid placed by the system on behalf of the current high bidder. It's easient to explain with an example.

Let's say you bid $10 for an item, but the current high bid is only $2. In this example the system will place a $3 bid for you, making you the new high-bidder. If someone else comes along and tries to bid $5, they beat your $3 proxy bid, but the system knows you have already out-bid them, so it places a higher proxy bid for you, making the new bid for the item $6. If the auction ends at this point, you will have won it at $6.

If someone later bids $15, then they have officially out-bid your high of $10, so they will be the new high bidder.

Default Bid Increments

As a default each new bid must be at least $1 over the current high bid.

Bidding History List

The Bidding History will show the most recent bidding action on an item, displaying the username and the bid value. Note the number of bids placed on the auction differs from those displayed on the Bidding History. The Bidding history will only display each user's maximum bid.