How bidding works (manual bids)

Bidding is manual: each accepted bid stores the exact dollar amount you submitted. There is no separate stored “maximum auto-bid engine” in the core bid model—raise your amount intentionally whenever you want to stay ahead.

Minimum next bid

The UI highlights the lowest allowed bid: take the greater of the starting price or current high bid, then add the seller's configured minimum increment. Quick-bid buttons may jump common step sizes, but you can always type a higher custom value.

Reserve price awareness

If a reserve exists, bidding may climb without revealing the reserve threshold. Once offers meet or exceed that threshold, the listing reflects that the reserve has been met.

Buy Now shortcut

When Buy Now is enabled and still available, you can skip incremental competition by purchasing outright—see auction types.

Live updates

Auction detail pages stream updates when possible. If counts look stale, refresh once—details in live updates troubleshooting.