Proxy Bidding and Max Bids: How Automatic Bidding Works

How does proxy bidding work, step by step?

Take a lot with a current bid of $80. On a common increment schedule, bids rise $10 at a time under $100 and $25 at a time from $100 to $500.

You paid $175, not $200. The system never spends more of your max than it needs to.

1. You set a max bid of $200. The site places $90 for you, the next bid. Your $200 stays private.
2. A rival bids $150. The site answers for you at $175, one increment higher, because your max allows it.
3. The rival gives up. The lot closes and you win at $175, $25 below your max.

What happens when two max bids compete?

When two maxes meet, the price jumps straight to one increment above the lower max, capped at the higher max. If your max is $200 and a rival's is $300, the price goes to $225 and the rival leads. You never see their $300, and they never see your $200.

If both maxes are exactly the same, someone has to win. On Auktia the earlier max wins, at that amount. That is why setting your max early is a quiet advantage: a tie goes to whoever committed first.

Who can see my max bid?

On Auktia nobody sees your max, including the seller (auction house) and its auctioneer. Other bidders see only the current bid, which is set by the second-highest max plus one increment.

That privacy is what makes proxy bidding work. If others could see your limit, they could bid up to just under it. Keeping it hidden means the price only rises as far as real competition pushes it.

How do you choose the right max bid?

Start from what you will pay all-in, not from the hammer. With a 15% buyer's premium and 8.25% sales tax, a $300 all-in limit is a max bid of about $240. Then ask whether losing at $245 would sting. If it would, raise the max now, not in the last minute.

Odd amounts help. Many bidders stop at round numbers like $250, so a max of $260 beats them, as long as it still fits your budget. See bid increments for how the steps change as the price grows.

What are the downsides of proxy bidding?

Proxy bidding is the simplest way to bid well, but it is a tool, not a guarantee.

• It can win things you forgot about. A max bid is a binding promise to buy if nobody beats it.
• It cannot stop you from raising your own max in the heat of the close. The discipline is still yours.
• It shows interest, since your opening bid appears on the lot right away. On a soft-close sale that matters little, because late bidders cannot ambush you.
• It protects your limit, not your chances. A rival with a bigger max still wins.

Is proxy bidding better than bidding manually?

For most people, yes. Manual bidding means watching the lot, answering every rival by hand and deciding your limit in the moment, which is when people overspend. A max bid makes that decision once, calmly, and then does the clicking for you.

Manual bidding still has a place. Some bidders like to place one opening bid to watch how much interest a lot draws before committing to a max. That is fine, as long as you set the real max before the closing starts rather than during it. Either way, you pay the same price for the same competition; the difference is how much of your evening it takes.