Waiting until the closing moments of an auction dramatically decreases your chance of winning an auction due to timing, disrupted internet connection, or auction system overload.
Many bidders will be trying to get their bids in. To increase your chances of winning an auction:
- Use a higher maximum bid as your personal bidding assistant. Bid the highest amount you are willing to pay for the koi. Only you know what your maximum bid amount is.
- The current bid amount will increase by one increment in your favor.
- Subsequent bids by others will be compared to your maximum bid amount.
- If your maximum bid is higher, the current bid amount will increase by one increment higher than the other person’s bid amount in your favor.
- Only after someone enters a bid that is higher than your maximum bid will you be outbid.
Example: Say the starting bid for a koi is $150, and the bid increment is $10. You enter a maximum bid of $350. The new current bid is now $160 with you as the high bidder. Say another customer enters a bid of $170. Since your maximum bid amount is still higher, the new current bid will increase by one increment (in this case, to $180) in your favor. If no other bids come in, you will win the auction at $180. However, say another customer enters their own max bid of $380. You will now be outbid because your maximum bid amount is lower than the new bid. The new current bid will be $360 (one increment higher than your maximum bid) in favor of the competing bidder.
