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Maximum Bids Explained

On This Page...

• How Maximum Bids Work
• Maximum Bid Increment Chart

Related Pages...

• Register to Bid
• How to Bid
• Dates and Deadlines

How Maximum Bids Work

A maximum bid is an secret amount, up to which you allow us to bid on your behalf, only raising you when you are outbid, and raising you just 10% above the other person's bid.

Here's an example...

If a certain lot is at $200, and you'd be willing to pay up to $400 for it,
you could raise it to $220 with a max of $395.

If someone after you raises the lot to $242, we'll automatically put you in at $269.

If someone after that raises the lot to $296, we'll put you in at $326.

And so on untill we reach your maximum.

But if no one bids on the item, you get it for your initial bid of $220.

In the example above you were willing to bid up to $400, but we only put your max in at $395. Why? To prevent ties, and to make sure no one wins a lot for less than 10% over the previous bidder, we only allow maximums that fall into our normal bidding increments.

The chart below may help you understand this a little better and calculate your own max bids.

How to Use the Max Bid Chart

  1. On the chart, find the amount you're bidding. Pretend the lot you're interested in is at $500. Since you'll be rasing the lot to $550, find $550 on the chart.
  2. Now just read down, skipping every other bid. In the case, the valid maximums are 666, 807, 977, 1183, 1433, and so on...
550 amount of your bid
605 what another bidder would raise to
666 valid max (covers one raise)
733 what another bidder would raise to
807 valid max (covers two raises)
888 what another bidder would raise to
977 valid max (covers three raises)

Maximum Bid Increment Chart

25 50 75 125 150 175 200 225 250 275 300 400 450 500 550 600 750 1000 1200
30 55 83 138 165 193 221 248 275 303 330 440 496 550 605 660 826 1100 1320
35 61 92 152 182 213 244 273 303 334 364 486 546 605 666 727 909 1210 1453
40 68 102 168 201 235 269 301 334 368 401 535 601 666 733 800 1000 1331 1599
45 75 113 185 222 259 296 332 368 405 442 589 662 733 807 881 1100 1465 1759
50 83 125 204 245 285 326 366 405 446 487 648 729 807 888 970 1210 1612 1935
55 92 138 225 270 314 359 403 446 491 536 713 802 888 977 1067 1331 1774 2129
61 102 152 248 297 346 395 444 491 541 590 785 883 977 1075 1174 1465 1952 2342
68 113 168 273 327 381 435 489 541 596 649 864 972 1075 1183 1292 1612 2148 2577
75 125 185 301 360 420 479 538 596 656 714 951 1070 1183 1302 1422 1774 2363 2835
83 138 204 332 397 463 527 592 656 722 786 1047 1177 1302 1433 1565 1952 2600 3119
92 152 225 366 437 510 580 652 722 795 865 1152 1295 1433 1577 1722 2148 2861 3431
102 168 248 403 481 561 638 718 795 875 952 1268 1425 1577 1735 1895 2363 3148 3775
113 185 273 444 530 618 702 790 875 963 1048 1395 1568 1735 1909 2085 2600 3463 4153
125 204 301 489 583 680 773 870 963 1060 1153 1535 1725 1909 2100 2294 2861 3810 4569
138 225 332 538 642 749 851 958 1060 1166 1269 1689 1898 2100 2310 2524 3148 4191 5026
152 248 366 592 707 824 937 1054 1166 1283 1396 1858 2088 2310 2541 2777 3463 4611 5529
168 273 403 652 778 907 1031 1160 1283 1412 1536 2044 2297 2541 2796 3055 3810 5073 6082
185 301 444 718 856 998 1135 1276 1412 1554 1690 2249 2527 2796 3076 3361 4191 5581 6691
204 332 489 790 942 1098 1249 1404 1554 1710 1860 2474 2780 3076 3384 3698 4611 6140 7361