AH Max Bid Feature
 

Seems that some auction houses let you go back and lower a max bid before it hits while others do not. Not losing sleep over it, but it seems to me you should be allowed to withdraw a max bid up until that time that someone actually taps it and puts it in play.

Sense
 

That makes sense for the bidder, but not for the AH. Therefore it will likely remain as it is.

Some do and some don't let you. I agree they should let you as it's not harming, at that time, anyone or the company, imo.

Never occurred to me that I might be allowed to do that. Probably would have used it a couple of times. Oh well.

Which AH's allow this?

REA's software allows you to update max bids upward or downward at any point in time so long as the max bid hasn't been hit yet.

Brian

If you have set your max bid to the next bid increment, then you are not allowed to lower it to the current bid amount. Again, this would cause no harm, but it is not allowed.

Interesting. Imagine if this was allowed on ebay? Being able to lower your max bid seems kind of weird, I'm actually kind of surprised it's allowed.

1. Let's say the current high bid on an item is $100 for Bidder A.
2. Bidder A has a max of $150 on the item
3. Bidder B comes in and puts a max bid of $10,000
4. Item is now showing a high bid of $160 for Bidder B
5. Bidder B lowers his max bid to $170 ???

Seems like this could be used as a method to expose Bidder A's max bid. Not sure I like that....

Heritage
 

With Heritage you can always lower your max bid down to any amount over whatever the next minimum bid increment is.

Also, if you are the current high bidder and raise your max bid you do not affect the current high bid. You cannot outbid yourself.

The far more serious issue with what you've outlined on eBay is bid retractions. Bidder B in your scenario could, on eBay, retract the bid entirely and re-bid $149, leaving Bidder A at $150, his max bid. That's the real issue and the one that gets used and abused all the time. Lowering a max bid is allowed on eBay--they just call it a bid retraction.

In an auction like REA or Heritage, there's no bid retractions. If Bidder B outbids Bidder A, his bid sticks. Whether or not his max bid was $160 or $10,000, he has entered into a binding contract should be win the item at that level. There's no obligation on Bidder A to come back and bid over Bidder B.

The reason that changing max bids downward is allowed is because any number of things can happen during the course of an auction where maybe the original max bid is no longer feasible or wanted.

If you place a $10,000 max bid on day 1 of REA on an item that is opening at $1000, and then you find out a week later, when the item is at $2500, that your transmission needs to be replaced or another card has popped up that you want or you lost your job, why shouldn't you be able to change the autobid downward? That, to me, is the more responsible option--you're on the hook for what you've bid and where the level is at (there's no retracting), but you're not forced into watching a max bid get hit and hit when you know you can't pay or no longer want to pay the original $10,000.

Brian

Just to play devil's advocate here Brian, we had a discussion a while back about the fact the the UCC guarantees the right to retract any bid before such time as the item is considered sold. You also can't "sign away" your UCC rights. An auction house can refuse a bid, so if someone has a retraction with you, you can decide not to do business with them in the future. You can even cancel all their current bids and ban them, but once you accept their bid, technically you HAVE to accept the retraction.

Thanks, Scott. That said, I still think eBay poses more minefields for bidders and allows for more impropriety than a platform like REA or Heritage, where bidders are vetted and some standards are enforced.

Brian

Couldn't agree more. Basically any platform that doesn't consistently enforce their rules is a minefield. It allows for, at the very least, the appearance of a protected class of customer, and can be a huge turn-off for people who actually obey the rules. Ebay isn't out to protect anyone, so the burden is on sellers to provide and enforce rules. When that is done selectively, or not at all, you wind up with the wild west where anything goes.

The Heritage/REA examples are more akin to changing/lowering/raising your SNIPE bids with ebay.... which I am sure we have all done at some point.

I personally tinker with my snipe bid amounts all the time, based on another pricey item I may have won recently, or a car needing unexpected repair, or a better-than-expected bonus at work, etc.

The bid amount really doesn't matter until the snipe goes off. Bid retractions, on the other hand..... not ok! :mad: There's a huge difference between the two.