eBay bids mystery

[oldwhy]

I recently came across some bids on eBay that didn't make sense to me. Does somebody know how jumps in bids like the ones below can occur ("show automatic bids" mode)?

 

Bidder Bid Amount Bid Time

private listing - bidders' identities protected US $1,038.00 Feb-09-14 05:47:00 PST

 

private listing - bidders' identities protected US $1,013.00 Feb-09-14 07:00:01 PST

 

private listing - bidders' identities protected US $510.66 Feb-09-14 05:47:00 PST

 

private listing - bidders' identities protected US $500.66 Feb-08-14 12:30:12 PST

 

private listing - bidders' identities protected US $326.00 Feb-08-14 12:30:12 PST

 

private listing - bidders' identities protected US $321.00 Feb-08-14 17:22:17 PST

 

I always assumed eBay only increased automatic bids up to the level that is necessary to outbid the current high bid.

[malvin]

That would happen if there was a reserve.

 

I assume the reserve is around 1K so that 1K bid triggered it.

 

Malvin

[BrianR]

Bidder 1's max bid was 321.

Bidder 2's max bid was 500.

Bidder' 3' max bid was 500.66

Bidder 4's max bid was probably 1000

Bidder 5's max bid was 1013.00

Bidder 6 who knows how high but the next increment is 1038.00

 

Current price Bid increment

$ 0.01 - $ 0.99 $ 0.05

$ 1.00 - $ 4.99 $ 0.25

$ 5.00 - $ 24.99 $ 0.50

$ 25.00 - $ 99.99 $ 1.00

$ 100.00 - $ 249.99 $ 2.50

$ 250.00 - $ 499.99 $ 5.00

$ 500.00 - $ 999.99 10.00

$ 1000.00 - $ 2499.99 $ 25.00

$ 2500.00 - $ 4999.99 $ 50.00

$ 5000.00 and up $ 100.00

 

 

The reserve has nothing to do with it.

[jjeanius]

you are seeing the max bids of all previous bidders once the auction has ended...so the only true max bid that is unknown is that of the winning bidder. This is *not* a list of the bids as reflected by "current price" during the auction itself.

[Pete Marino]

Looks pretty normal to me :shrug:

[oldwhy]

Thanks, guys. I realize now that this is actually not unusual at all. I guess I got confused by the high maximum bids, because I never enter my high bid before the end of an auction.