eBay places house bids against the reserve... sometimes?

[Matthew H]

Hi, Just a little info for those who may not know. (I didn't know until today)

In some auctions where I've "won" but didn't meet the reserve, I've been offered second chance offers by the seller.

In one case today, eBay placed a bid for me that met the reserve because my max did meet the reserve.



This is directly from the eBay website:

"How bidding works for an item with a reserve price

When you bid on an item with a reserve price, if your maximum bid meets the reserve, it will automatically increase to meet that price.

Example: A seller lists an item with a starting bid of $1.00 and a reserve of $100.00. Bidder A bids $1.50. The current bid increases to $1.50 but the reserve isn't met. If nobody else places a bid, Bidder A does not win the item.

Bidder B places a maximum bid of $150.00. The current bid increases to $100.00 (the amount of the reserve) and the reserve is met. If nobody else places a bid, Bidder B wins the item at the price of $100.00.

Note: If a seller's reserve price isn't met, they might choose to offer the item to one of the bidders using a Second Chance Offer. "



I will post this example when their other auctions end. Don't wan to upset anyone :)

Edit: I just realized how inaccurate my initial post was... I had forgot that I used a snipe, I am still new to snipes...
Still, this is the first I've heard about meeting reserve with a proxy bid and being bumped up.

[D. Bergin]

That seems odd. If the reserve was met when you placed the bid, it should have registered that, as soon as you placed the bid.

Only thing I can think of is that the seller lowered the reserve in the last seconds of that auction, which I'm not sure is possible to make changes in an auction that late into it.

[novakjr]

That seems odd. If the reserve was met when you placed the bid, it should have registered that, as soon as you placed the bid.

Only thing I can think of is that the seller lowered the reserve in the last seconds of that auction, which I'm not sure is possible to make changes in an auction that late into it.

The reserve wouldn't necessarily have been met unless a second bidder was also willing to go that high...

[ChiefBenderForever]

Only one person has to bid at the reserve amount to win it, per Matts example- if reserve is $500 and one person bids $600 it would go to $500 and they would win it with only bid in the auction.

[novakjr]

Only one person has to bid at the reserve amount to win it, per Matts example- if reserve is $500 and one person bids $600 it would go to $500 and they would win it with only bid in the auction.

Correct. To automatically escalate at the end of the auction, only one has to top it... Now to legitimately reach the reserve, without ebay's auto bid taking place, then two would have had to reach it(or at least been close enough that one of 'em went over).

[Matthew H]

I don't think that I explained my point very well... I have been using for a long time and never knew that ebay will automatically meet reserve with your bid if your max bid is high enough. I am still happy I got the card... It just shocked me a little bit. I am also new to using snipes. So my bid did not register until the end either... Somewhere along the way I forgot that I was looking at a snipe and not an actual bid :o :o :o

I will pay closer attention to how I handle a bid on an auction with a reserve. I also just wanted to let others know... I have been using ebay for a long time and never knew they did this.

[D. Bergin]

That makes sense then. Ebay has always done this with reserves. No need for a second bidder if your bid hits' the reserve amount.

[vargha]

Dave is right. eBay has done that forever.

[benderbroeth]

and knowing is half the battle..the more you know....