Guide
How eBay bidding works
eBay bids for you, one step at a time, up to the maximum you set. Understanding those steps, the bid increments, explains most of what you see in a bid history, including what bidding in small steps looks like.
Updated
Proxy bidding: eBay bids for you
When you bid on eBay you enter your maximum: the most you’re willing to pay. eBay keeps that number private and bids on your behalf, raising your bid by one increment each time someone else bids, until your maximum is reached. These are the “automatic” bids you see in a bid history.
If someone’s maximum is higher than yours, their automatic bid outbids you straight away. If yours is higher, you stay in the lead, and the price only rises to one increment above their maximum.
What the winner pays
The winning bidder pays one bid increment more than the second-highest maximum bid, or their own maximum if that is lower. If two bidders set the same maximum, the one who bid first wins at that amount.
eBay bid increments
The increment depends on the current price. These are eBay’s US increments:
| 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 |
| $1,000.00 – $2,499.99 | $25.00 |
| $2,500.00 – $4,999.99 | $50.00 |
| $5,000.00 and up | $100.00 |
eBay can change these; check eBay’s bidding help for the current table.
Bid increment calculator
Increment at this price: $1.00. Lowest bid eBay will accept: $43.00
You win and pay $56.00: one increment over the other maximum, capped at yours.
Sniping and extended bidding
Because eBay auctions end at a fixed time, many buyers bid in the final seconds (“sniping”), often with a sniping tool, so others have no time to respond. Last-second bids are usually other buyers, not anything untoward. eBay is testing extended bidding in some categories, where a bid in the final 60 seconds resets the clock to 60 seconds.
What small steps look like
Because each bid against a higher maximum is answered instantly by an automatic bid, a bidder who keeps nudging up in small steps leaves a distinctive staircase in the bid history: their bid, the leader’s automatic bid one increment above, their bid, and so on. Many cautious bidders do this. It is also how a shill bidder would find the leader’s maximum, so Susbid treats three or more small consecutive bids as a moderate sign, with that innocent explanation beside it.
See how to read an eBay bid history for an annotated example.
Watching an auction?
Capture its bid history and see which signs are present, with the evidence for each.