We know that eBay is SO 2004, so many of you are confused about our proxy bidding system. Please see the following to get an idea of how it works:

Say for example, an item is on auction with a starting bid price of $11.25.

If bidder A places a bid of $20.00 for the item, our system will start his bid at $11.25 and bid up to $20.00 automatically on his behalf.

When bidder B visits the auction, he sees the current bid price as $11.25. If bidder B decides to place a bid for $13.00, he will be outbid immediately by bidder A, and the new minimum bid will be $14.00. In order to outbid the first bidder, he would need to bid at least $20.01.

If bidder B places a bid for $20.00, which matches bidder A’s maximum bid amount, then bidder A would still be the high bidder, but the new minimum bid would be $21.00.

Does this make sense? We hope so. If not, please send an email to swicklan@med.umich.edu