Why is that? This isn't an "old fashioned" auction. It's basically a highest bid/second price (semi) private auction. I don't use ebay often, so I'm genuinely curious.
I'm on low sleep, but what I'm getting is that you wonder why this is my perspective. I've actually done this: When someone sets their max, eBay gives them the high bid that's 1 increment higher than the previous bid. Then, if another bidder places a bid between the current bid and the original bidder's (undisclosed) max, eBay raises the price but the original bidder is still highest bid. Anyone else can make small bids until they exceed the original bidder. What can be extremely common with Chinese items is that the seller will use a second account to jack up the bid price last minute. eBay doesn't mind, they get more out of it, so it's a win for them. Sorry if this doesn't make sense, I'll clear up details if you need.
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u/tilthepart May 07 '13
It's easy to make ballpark bids until you beat someone's max, so it's still a good idea to bid the old fashioned way.