How to Automatically Bid on eBay

Auto bidding on eBay allows you to spend your day doing something other than staring at the computer screen waiting to see if you won or lost an item.  When you first place a bid, there is the excitement and anticipation of victory.  This same feeling can lead to anxiety the closer an auction comes to ending, by auto bidding you ensure that you do not spend more than you intend on an item while fighting others for a given auction.  Without auto bidding, you have to constantly be vigilant as an auction comes to a close and if you miss a bid, you miss out on what you are looking to buy.

There is nothing special about setting up the auto bid process. While most people think there are hidden settings, a profile setting or some other method to set up auto bidding, it is just not true. In order to auto bid, you simply type in the maximum amount you are willing to spend on a given auction. eBay will then auto bid for you up to that amount as other bidders try to out bid you. Once you reach your limit, you will have to manually add another bid for the auto bid feature to continue.

It is important to note, if an eBay auction has a minimum reserve and your initial bid does not meet it, you will automatically have to match it. If you are not careful, you may end up spending much more than you bargained for this way. If that is not a concern, bid away and watch as auto bidding makes it easier for you to win an auction.

Auto bidding is by no means foolproof.  If you are fighting for an auction, anybody who has a happy trigger finger can easily slip in under the timer and beat you.  However, in most cases, auto bidding will be more than enough to win the items you want to purchase.  If you notice a given auction is coming close to the wire and multiple bidders are trying to vie for an item, sitting there at the end and being ready to bid – even with auto bidding engaged – may be the key to winning a highly sought after auction item.