Ebay newbie here.., answer this question please. Options

[DougC]

I've bought a couple of things through ebay over the years but I've never had this situation happen, can someone please explain. When I bid on a item (2 different things today) then go to the "confirm bid" button, it immediately gives me a "you've been outbid" message. It happens everytime and immediately/similtaneously so I know it's not just a coinsidence and some one is bidding at the same time. I guess it's some kind of feature or something and I probably have little chance of winning an auction where someone is "automatically" bidding. ??

Doug C

[aircooledboy]

Say the item you are interested in is currently at $1.00. When you bid, say 10 dollars, E bay only shows as much of your bid as necessary to make you the high bidder. i.e. first bid was .95, next bid was $12.00, the current high bid will show what ever increment the seller has set as the minimum bid, over the previous high bid. So, in my example, the increment is .05, the $12.00 bid will only show as 1.00. Now, you bid $10.00. The previous high bidder has actually bid $12.00, so his bid now shows as 10.05, instantly outbidding you, because he has already comitted to more than you bid.

Clear as mud?