Maximum Bidding Rules
The following rules apply to Maximum Bidding:
Maximum Bids can only be placed on single winner Online type items.
Maximum Bids cannot be used with Live Items or Silent Items.
Maximum Bids cannot be applied outside of the Online Bidding Times that have been set for the event.
Maximum Bids cannot be used when the Allow Multiple Winners option is enabled for the item.
Maximum Bids can be raised. For example, if a bidder has a Maximum Bid in place for $1,000 and they place another bid for $1,200, the actual winning bid will not change but their Maximum Bid will be raised to $1,200.
Maximum Bids can be placed on Buy It Now Only Items as long as the bid is less than the Buy-It-Now price. Please note, another bidder can still bid the Buy-It-Now value to win the item.
Bids placed at just above an existing Maximum Bid may fail even though the new winning bid is less than your bid. This can happen if the bid value lands in the gap between the Maximum Bid and the next bid point (for example, the dollar amount placed between the Maximum Bid and the minimum bid increment).
Any bid over a Maximum Bid will become a winning bid as long as the amount is at least one Bid Increment over the previously visible bid (and for multiples it must be a multiple over the previous bid). The new bid will show as one bid increment over the previous (maximum) bid if it can.
- If it cannot be increased to the full bid increment (for example, due to a Buy It Now value set) the bid will be maxed out.
Maximum Bids are still applied if the Record Bid function is used on an Online Items with an existing Maximum Bid.
Maximum Bidding is available when using catalog bidding in Kiosk Mode, however the What am I winning option does not show "Maximum bids" in Kiosk Mode.
IMPORTANT -- When A Reserve Price Is Set
When an item has a Reserved Price set, a Maximum Bid will be increased until it reaches, or exceeds due to bid increments, the "Reserved Price" value. If the Reserve Price value is not met, the Maximum Bid will still be used to set the Current Bid for the item.
Text Based Bidding
If Text Based Bidding is available for bidders to use, bids placed by text will follow the auction's Maximum Bidding settings by default. See Bidding Behavior for more details on this.
With Maximum Bidding enabled, all text bids will be considered Maximum Bids.
Example Maximum Text Bid
An item has no current bid, a Starting Bid of $10, and a Bid Increment of $10.
- A Text bid of $40 will set the current bid to $10 and will be increased, following the Maximum Bidding Rules, to $40 as needed.
Last reviewed: June 2023