I am wondering if anyone else experiences this, I am watching an item on e-bay, 1 bid ok two bids I notice the price goes a little higher three bids a little higher but then then I notice it states 4 bids but the price remains the same as what was posted for the third bid.
How or why does this happen, its like the next highest bid is being hid for some reason, I think it happens on all the things I am watching if there is that many bids.
Is this normal for e-bay?

Likely someone has bid a step or two higher than the current bid, and when that bid is topped it goes to the higher step of that bidder. For example, if the bids are at $10, and I bid $12, it only shows my bid at $11  when an intermediate bidder  tops my $10 by only $.50. You can bid way higher than the current bid, but it will only show your bid at one level above the last high bid.

Once my mind stops spinning I might be able to comprehend that, why dont they just keep it simple and show the latest top bid :(

That is just what they do. They don't show a bid higher than just what it takes to overbid the last top bid. you won't know what the highest bid really is unless you overbid it or the auction ends, and even then someone could win at a lower bid than they put in.
If my $11 bid is topped by a $11.50 bid, but my actual top bid is $20 and the auction ends, I will win at $12, not $20.

This is the story.
The page only shows the amount of the winning bid, not the highest amount that was bid.
If you bid $7 and then I bid $40, the amount shown is $7.50 and it reports two bids.
If I then decide that I might be out of town when the item closes and I would be willing to pay $90, I will subsequently bid $90.
Now it shows three bids.  But eBay won't make me bid against myself, so the winning amount is still $7.50.
A third bid without the winning amount changing.  This is fairly common on eBay.

Quote from: leg17 on September 13, 2011, 10:29:06 AM
This is the story.
The page only shows the amount of the winning bid, not the highest amount that was bid.
If you bid $7 and then I bid $40, the amount shown is $7.50 and it reports two bids.
If I then decide that I might be out of town when the item closes and I would be willing to pay $90, I will subsequently bid $90.
Now it shows three bids.  But eBay won't make me bid against myself, so the winning amount is still $7.50.
A third bid without the winning amount changing.  This is fairly common on eBay.

This is correct, if you increase your HIGH bid the price does not increase, only the bid total.

It's called a Proxy Bid. My bid will increase to match other bids that come after mine until someone bids higher than me. However, if you're bidding hours before the auction ends, you only give someone else an opportunity to out bid you. Bid the most you're willing to pay in the last 5 seconds gives you the best chance of winning at the lowest price.

All Good Explanation's. It took me awhile to figure this out myself, as I was afraid I was going to over bid, until I finally took a shot at it. I will just add, that I too always wait to the last few seconds to adjust my high bid number, BUT, if you have a slow internet connection (such as dial-up), you may not get it in in the last 5 seconds. Remember, it asks you to bid, then it asks you to confirm your bid.

Wayne

On many bids I noticed that instead of going to a seperate screen asking me to confirm bid it is now staying within the same window and giving me the timer and asking me to just push the confirm button rght there, I like this better and hope all auctions go this way

Oh, I forgot one more important rule Jason, so listen up: NEVER BID AGAINST ME !!!!!!!!!!Lol

Wayne

Luckily you guys dont have to worry much about me, my interests are pretty obscure