A proxy bid allows you to enter the maximum amount you're willing to spend with the goal of winning the item at the lowest possible price. The system will bid for you, up to your maximum proxy bid amount, as additional bids are entered on the item.

An exact bid is the amount you want the item's current selling price to immediately jump to. Your bid amount will not change as additional bids are entered on the item.

How do I enter a proxy bid or an exact bid?

To enter a proxy bid, enter your maximum bid amount, click the Proxy Bid button, and then submit your bid.

To enter an exact bid, enter your bid amount, click the Exact Bid button, and then submit your bid.

Will anyone see my maximum proxy bid amount?

Rest assured, your maximum proxy bid amount is never exposed to anyone other than you during the online auction.

How does proxy bidding work?

Let's say an item is currently selling for $10 and you're willing to bid as high as $50. You would enter a proxy bid of $50 and allow the system to automatically bid for you until you win the item or the selling price goes higher than $50. If the selling price goes higher than your maximum proxy bid amount, you'll be outbid and someone else will be the leading bidder. You'll only owe the amount the system has bid for you if you win the item. This amount will never be higher than your maximum proxy bid amount.

A proxy bid is entered by a participant as a single bid but the proxy bid can show up in the bid history multiple times. The additional proxy bid entries are created when the system automatically bids for the leading proxy bid as previously explained. The bid history always shows the winning bid amount at the top of the list.

To illustrate how proxy bidding works, let's look at a friendly example of 2 people bidding on the same item:

• Auction Item:
  • Starting Bid Amount: $10
  • Minimum Bid Increment: $2
• Bob enters a Proxy bid with a maximum bid amount of $50.
  • Current Bid: $10 (same as starting bid amount)
  • Leading Bidder: Bob
• Mary enters an Exact bid of $12.
  • Current Bid: $14 ($12 + $2 minimum bid increment)
  • Leading Bidder: Bob
• Mary enters a Proxy bid of $20.
  • Current Bid: $22 ($20 + $2 minimum bid increment)
  • Leading Bidder: Bob
• Mary enters a Proxy bid of $50.
  • Current Bid: $50 (both proxy bids are maxed out)
  • Leading Bidder: Bob (the first bid entered wins when 2 bids are the same)
• Mary enters a Proxy bid of $100.
  • Current Bid: $52 ($50 + $2 minimum bid increment)
  • Leading Bidder: Mary

Here's how this looks in the Bid History:

When Bob entered his $50 proxy bid, he was initially the leading bidder at $10. As Mary entered bids on the item, the system automatically entered bids for Bob which are identified by an asterisk (*). When Mary also entered a $50 bid, Bob was still the leading bidder at $50 because his bid was entered first. Mary finally took the lead when she entered a higher bid than Bob's $50 proxy bid.