How proxy bidding works — and how to use it to win

New to timed auctions? The single most misunderstood feature is proxy bidding — and it is also the most powerful tool a buyer has. Instead of sitting at your screen tapping in bids, you tell the system the most you are willing to pay, and it bids on your behalf, one increment at a time, only as high as it needs to.

What actually happens when you enter a maximum

Say an item sits at $100 with a $10 increment, and you enter a maximum of $250. The system places a bid at $110 for you. If someone else bids $120, the system instantly answers with $130 — and so on, up to your ceiling. Your $250 is never shown to anyone. If bidding stops at $180, that is what you pay: not your maximum.

Three habits of winning bidders

• Decide your number before the auction ends. Set it once, based on what the item is worth to you — not on what other bidders are doing.
• Bid odd amounts. A maximum of $253 beats the crowd of people whose ceiling is a round $250.
• Do not chase. If you are outbid beyond your maximum, the market has spoken. There will be another one.

One more thing: our auctions use anti-snipe protection. Any bid in the final minutes extends the clock, so a last-second swoop cannot steal an item without giving you a chance to respond. That makes an honest maximum, entered early, the strongest strategy of all.