EBay Question...please help me understand...

[Lynn CC]

how this works. I just bid on an item for my pool that was listed at $20, so I bid $20. Then it asked for a maximum bid so I put $50.

Then it showed me as the high bidder, saying I am the highest bidder at $50.
The part that I don't understand is that now instead of buying it for $20, I'm paying $50 and I'm the only bid it's gotten

This is so confusing, did I outbid myself?

 

[disneyfanforever]

The way I understand this is that someone else had already put in a maximum bid very close to $50. You did not outbid yourself. You outbid someone else's maximum (that you did not see). I don't know if this makes any sense but I think this is how it works.

 

[disdanny]

Is there a reserve price for the item?

 

[momof3disneyholics]

I bet there was a reserve for the item if you are the first bidder and it already went to 50.00.

 

[Lynn CC]

Is there a reserve price for the item?

Yes, it says reserve met. Could you tell me what that means?

 

[disneyfanforever]

I think it means that the reserve was $50. If you had not met the reserve, the seller would not be under any obligation to sell you the item (I think the reserve is a option the seller can choose to prevent having to sell the item at a price below what they think the item is worth or are willing to sell it at)

 

[marybet]

If you are the only bidder it should say $20 reserve not met. Are you sure you put the $50 in maximum bid or did you put it in the spot for the bid? If you don't want it for $50 I think there is a place to change your bid but I am not sure how long you have to do that. Go back and look at your bid again and you will see what I am talking about.

 

[a Really Bad Egg]

To clarify...you bid a maximum of 50.00 and there was someone else who had a max bid of 49.00. Since you had the highest maximum bid at that time, that is where the 'auto-bidding' stopped.

Reserve price has nothing to do with it. The reserve only indicates the lowest point at which the seller is willing to give up the goods.

 

[Kendra17]

how this works. I just bid on an item for my pool that was listed at $20, so I bid $20. Then it asked for a maximum bid so I put $50.

Then it showed me as the high bidder, saying I am the highest bidder at $50.
The part that I don't understand is that now instead of buying it for $20, I'm paying $50 and I'm the only bid it's gotten

This is so confusing, did I outbid myself?

No, they must be selling more than one item. This happens when they are having a Dutch auction, which I still don't understand completely. I did that, too. There was a $2.00 makeup item I wanted. She had five to sell. I bid on 2 and put my maximum bid at $2.50. I had to pay $2.50, even though that wasn't what I thought would happen.

Go to the help menu and cancel your bid. You are permitted to if you immediately rebid with the correct amount. Put in your maximum bid at $20 and keep watching it. Bid higher later if someone else is bidding and you need to outbid them, though.

Hope this helps.

 

[va32h]

What is the auction number? That would be the best way to figure out what is going on.

 

[briannesmom]

I think it means that the reserve was $50. If you had not met the reserve, the seller would not be under any obligation to sell you the item (I think the reserve is a option the seller can choose to prevent having to sell the item at a price below what they think the item is worth or are willing to sell it at)

I think disneyfanforever is right. You are the only bidder and you met the reserve amount of $50 so your bid jumped to that amount. If you had bid say $35 and it did not meet the reserve your bid would have stayed at $20 and said reserve not met (until someone else bids on the item). Does that make sense?

Amy

 

[marybet]

I think disneyfanforever is right. You are the only bidder and you met the reserve amount of $50 so your bid jumped to that amount. If you had bid say $35 and it did not meet the reserve your bid would have stayed at $20 and said reserve not met (until someone else bids on the item). Does that make sense?

Amy

That is not correct, her bid would not go to the max. just because that was the reserve price. I have bid on stuff and it does not go to the max. unless someone else bids up to it. If she is the only bidder her bid should be $20.

 

[briannesmom]

That is not correct, her bid would not go to the max. just because that was the reserve price. I have bid on stuff and it does not go to the max. unless someone else bids up to it. If she is the only bidder her bid should be $20.

In the reserve auctions that I have had this is how it has worked. If it didn't work this way how would the seller ever get to their reserve price unless there was more than 1 bidder?

 

[wendyl]

There must be another bidder--that's the only way it would happen. OP: go back to the auction listing and look at how many bids are on the listing--if you click on that number, you will see everyone that has bid. You should see the other(s) usernames involved.

 

[briannesmom]

I just went to ebays help section and looked it up.

"If your maximum bid is the first to meet or exceed the reserve price, the effective bid displayed will automatically be raised to the reserve price."

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/buyer-auction.html

It is toward the bottom of the page in the Reserve Auction Section

Amy

 

[marybet]

In the reserve auctions that I have had this is how it has worked. If it didn't work this way how would the seller ever get to their reserve price unless there was more than 1 bidder?

I have seen many auctions that don't meet the reserve price. The reason to put in a max. bid is if someone bids against you. The seller has the right not to sell if the reserve is not met. I have never understood the reserve pricing, why not just use that as the starting bid? I have seen people bid $1 at a time to reach the reserve, seems silly to me.

 

[va32h]

I have seen many auctions that don't meet the reserve price. The reason to put in a max. bid is if someone bids against you. The seller has the right not to sell if the reserve is not met. I have never understood the reserve pricing, why not just use that as the starting bid? I have seen people bid $1 at a time to reach the reserve, seems silly to me.

Reserves are used for a couple of reasons:

1) To display an enticing low opening bid that will hopefully encourage bidders to click on your auction

2) To make sure your item is near the top of the page when the bidder sorts items by price lowest to highest

3) To save money on listing fees. The listing fee is determined by the starting bid price. There is a smaller fee to set a reserve. Sometimes it is cheaper to start the bidding low and have a reserve.

 

[marybet]

I just went to ebays help section and looked it up.

"If your maximum bid is the first to meet or exceed the reserve price, the effective bid displayed will automatically be raised to the reserve price."

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/buyer-auction.html

It is toward the bottom of the page in the Reserve Auction Section

Amy

Just goes to show you, you learn something new everyday. Looks like I was wrong. Thanks for the info.