What's going on here then? Something dodgy in the bidding!

[KiOgon]

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120987810706#ht_500wt_1201"]http://cgi.ebay.co.u...6#ht_500wt_1201[/url]

When I try to place a bid on this I get a message "please place a bid higher than the current" or similar, each time I look back & the bid shown has increased but my ID is not shown in the bidder list?

It's not 'normal'

Edit: So I have increased the bidding on this by about £40 from when I first saw it bu my ID or abbreviated ID doesn't show in the list - I checked again - something definitely ain't right

Edit 2: Even stranger - it's not showing up in my bidding list, so the seller has just had the bidding increased by an invisible bidder?
Looks like something similar has already happened with the previous bidder making 3 bids but at least his/her ID is shown.

REPORTED to eBay!

Edited September 19, 2012 by KiOgon

[mart]

Presumably if someone else placed a (higher) bid just a split second before yours, then this would happen. But I can't see that happening very often, and certainly not twice on one item.

[KiOgon]

[quote name='mart' timestamp='1348038162' post='1808283']
Presumably if someone else placed a (higher) bid just a split second before yours, then this would happen. But I can't see that happening very often, and certainly not twice on one item.
[/quote]
Yes that's what I thought may have happened the first time, but not twice as you say!

[the boy]

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1348038790' post='1808286']

Yes that's what I thought may have happened the first time, but not twice as you say!
[/quote]
Someone has an auto bid on it. Their max bid is higher than yours each time, when you place a bid they automatically outbid you. It will keep on happening until you outbid them.

[KiOgon]

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1348042885' post='1808344']
Someone has an auto bid on it. Their max bid is higher than yours each time, when you place a bid they automatically outbid you. It will keep on happening until you outbid them.
[/quote]
I don't see how that stops my bids showing on the item, or the item showing in my bidding list?

[Mr. Foxen]

Tried clearing your cache and stuff. Ebay cocks about a lot with that. If someone has entered a higher maximum bid, it will just show as outbidding you by a bit every time you bid, because that's how ebay works, it doesn't go right to the maximum unless it needs to. Also listings can be madeprivate so bidder IDs are hidden, but I don't think it shows up like you describe.

Edit: Also my currently bidding list constantly rearranges itself according to ebay's whim, sometimes it includes finished items, sometimes it doesn't

Edited September 19, 2012 by Mr. Foxen

[Ruiner]

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1348042885' post='1808344']
Someone has an auto bid on it. Their max bid is higher than yours each time, when you place a bid they automatically outbid you. It will keep on happening until you outbid them.
[/quote]

+1

It would only show a bid from you in the bidding history if you have a 'sucessful' bid, i.e. one that is higher than whatever the current highest bidder's maximum bid is.

[mart]

Oh hang on, isn't this what would happen if someone has already put a huge bid on the item? So the current maximum bid shown is much less than the value of their bid, and each time you bid less than their maximum, ebay automatically raises their [i]shown[/i] bid to something higher than yours. So each time, your bid [i]wasn't[/i] the highest bid, so doesn't show up; it just serves to raise the current price shown.

Or am I just getting confuddled in my old age?

[brensabre79]

Yes thats normal. Its happened to me before when I've put a low bid in. Instantly outbid and my name doesn't appear.

So someone might have put a bid of £1,000 in for it, and they will win the item for whatever price the next highest bidder puts in, if thats you, then your £75 bid will take it up to £76. There is a risk to that strategy, but if you want something badly it a sure way to win it! You can pick up a bargain sometimes...

[Happy Jack]

Hmmmm ... that's not my experience at all.

If I find myself bidding against someone who has placed a MAX bid of[b][color=#0000ff] £100 [/color][/b]but their bid [i][b]currently [/b][/i]stands at [b][color=#0000ff]£50 [/color][/b]then my new bid of [color=#ff0000][b]£55 [/b][/color]will appear in the bidding history while his apparent [color=#0000ff][b]£50 [/b][/color]bid will have become [color=#0000ff][b]£60[/b][/color]. If I then place a new bid of [color=#ff0000][b]£65 [/b][/color]then that will also appear in the bidding history (so everyone can now see that I have placed two bids) while his apparent [color=#0000ff][b]£60 [/b][/color]bid will have become[color=#0000ff][b] £70 [/b][/color](so everyone can see that he has only placed one bid).

Sounds to me like there's something odd, either with your end of this bidding, or with eBay.

[mart]

And sometimes you can get screwed. I put a large bid in (actually the maximum I was prepared to pay) on something where I wasn't going to be around near the end of the auction, and didn't know about sniping tools. And some charming person put a lot of bids on until they'd reached my maximum. They then won the auction and told the seller that they bid by mistake (about 15 times!?!?), so he offered it to me at my maximum bid, even though the bidding was several hundred quid less before this other bidder came along. I suppose I should have haggled, but I'm like Monty Python's Brian when it comes to haggling ....

[mart]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1348063290' post='1808715']
Hmmmm ... that's not my experience at all.

If I find myself bidding against someone who has placed a MAX bid of[b][color=#0000ff] £100 [/color][/b]but their bid [i][b]currently [/b][/i]stands at [b][color=#0000ff]£50 [/color][/b]then my new bid of [color=#ff0000][b]£55 [/b][/color]will appear in the bidding history while his apparent [color=#0000ff][b]£50 [/b][/color]bid will have become [color=#0000ff][b]£60[/b][/color]. If I then place a new bid of [color=#ff0000][b]£65 [/b][/color]then that will also appear in the bidding history (so everyone can now see that I have placed two bids) while his apparent [color=#0000ff][b]£60 [/b][/color]bid will have become[color=#0000ff][b] £70 [/b][/color](so everyone can see that he has only placed one bid).

Sounds to me like there's something odd, either with your end of this bidding, or with eBay.
[/quote]
Yeah, actually, that rings a bell, because you can get bidding histories where the "latest" bids actually have earlier dates, because they were higher. So, ok, I was confuddled. What was the question by the way?

[Beedster]

[quote name='mart' timestamp='1348063407' post='1808718']
And sometimes you can get screwed. I put a large bid in (actually the maximum I was prepared to pay) on something where I wasn't going to be around near the end of the auction, and didn't know about sniping tools. And some charming person put a lot of bids on until they'd reached my maximum. They then won the auction and told the seller that they bid by mistake (about 15 times!?!?), so he offered it to me at my maximum bid, even though the bidding was several hundred quid less before this other bidder came along. I suppose I should have haggled, but I'm like Monty Python's Brian when it comes to haggling ....
[/quote]

Yep, that's the sad truth, a lot of sellers bid their items up in this way, the only time to bid on an auction is at the last moment.

[Beedster]

[quote name='mart' timestamp='1348063506' post='1808720']
What was the question by the way?
[/quote]

Who's better at slap, Mark King or Flea?

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1348063607' post='1808722']
Yep, that's the sad truth, a lot of sellers bid their items up in this way, the only time to bid on an auction is at the last moment.
[/quote]

That doesn't stop it, since they can still put a shill in first to stop it selling lower than they want. Since they don't know your max anyway, make no odds when they time it.

[KiOgon]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1348057675' post='1808591']
Tried clearing your cache and stuff. Ebay cocks about a lot with that. If someone has entered a higher maximum bid, it will just show as outbidding you by a bit every time you bid, because that's how ebay works, it doesn't go right to the maximum unless it needs to. Also listings can be madeprivate so bidder IDs are hidden, but I don't think it shows up like you describe.

Edit: Also my currently bidding list constantly rearranges itself according to ebay's whim, sometimes it includes finished items, sometimes it doesn't
[/quote]

Yes you're right - but this isn't telling me I'm outbid, it's telling me to enter a bid higher than the current.

[quote name='Ruiner' timestamp='1348060902' post='1808660']
+1

It would only show a bid from you in the bidding history if you have a 'sucessful' bid, i.e. one that is higher than whatever the current highest bidder's maximum bid is.
[/quote]

No it usually shows up in the 'show automatic bids' but this isn't.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1348063290' post='1808715']
Hmmmm ... that's not my experience at all.

If I find myself bidding against someone who has placed a MAX bid of[b][color=#0000ff] £100 [/color][/b]but their bid [i][b]currently [/b][/i]stands at [b][color=#0000ff]£50 [/color][/b]then my new bid of [color=#ff0000][b]£55 [/b][/color]will appear in the bidding history while his apparent [color=#0000ff][b]£50 [/b][/color]bid will have become [color=#0000ff][b]£60[/b][/color]. If I then place a new bid of [color=#ff0000][b]£65 [/b][/color]then that will also appear in the bidding history (so everyone can now see that I have placed two bids) while his apparent [color=#0000ff][b]£60 [/b][/color]bid will have become[color=#0000ff][b] £70 [/b][/color](so everyone can see that he has only placed one bid).

Sounds to me like there's something odd, either with your end of this bidding, or with eBay.
[/quote]

Exactly!

Edited September 20, 2012 by KiOgon

[the boy]

It is a strange one then. Contact eBay.