Reference
How to read an eBay bid history
The bid history is the most useful page on an auction, and most buyers never open it. Tap the number of bids on any listing to get there. Here’s an annotated example of what it shows.
Updated
Bid history · 6 bids · 3 bidders · Ended
| Bidder | Bid amount | Bid time | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| k***n (482) | $61.00 | Oct 4, 2026 at 6:59:58 PM PDT | A |
| r***o (0) | $60.00 | Oct 4, 2026 at 6:59:41 PM PDT | B |
| k***n (482) | $46.00 | Oct 4, 2026 at 2:12:03 PM PDT | C |
| t***y (37) | $45.00 | Oct 4, 2026 at 2:12:03 PM PDT | |
| k***n (482) | $40.00 | Oct 3, 2026 at 9:30:15 AM PDT | |
| t***y (37) | $25.00 | Oct 2, 2026 at 8:01:44 PM PDT | |
| Starting price | $20.00 | Oct 1, 2026 |
Retracted and cancelled bids
| d***e (3) | $58.00 | Retracted Oct 4, 2026 at 6:40:02 PM PDT · Entered wrong amount | D |
- k***n (482): Highest bid. Shown at the price paid, not the bidder’s private maximum.
- r***o (0): Zero feedback: common among genuine buyers.
- k***n (482): Automatic bid, placed instantly by eBay for k***n.
- d***e (3): a retracted bid. Retracted bids are removed from the list above and shown here, with eBay’s explanation. This one was the highest bid when it was retracted, twenty minutes before the end. That’s the pattern behind the retraction sign, though a typo is the commonest innocent reason.
Masked bidders
eBay shows each bidder as the first and last character of their username with asterisks between, like k***n, followed by their feedback score. Only the seller sees full usernames. Two bids with the same masked name and score are likely the same bidder, but not certainly: in a busy category, different people share masks.
Amounts are sorted, not times
The list is sorted by amount, highest first. Because accepted bids only go up over time, reading it from the bottom up is roughly reading it in time order. Pairs with the same time, like C and the bid below it, are a bid and the automatic bid it triggered.
The bidder detail page
Tap any masked bidder to open their detail page. It covers the last 30 days:
- total bids, and how many different items they bid on;
- the share of their bid activity with this seller: the basis of the bid concentration sign;
- their bid retractions over 30 days and 6 months;
- their recent bidding by category, with other sellers anonymised.
This page matters most, because it shows a bidder’s behaviour across many auctions from a single listing. A bidder with 40 bids in a month, 95% of them with one seller, is worth a second look; a bidder with 2 bids, both with this seller, isn’t.
How long it’s available
The bid history stays visible for about 90 days after an auction ends. Capture it while you can if you want to check a past auction.
Upload a capture of any bid history and Susbid reads it, asks you to confirm, and checks the signs.
Watching an auction?
Capture its bid history and see which signs are present, with the evidence for each.