Has anyone out there had the same experience with the auto bid process as I have? As I understand it it is supposed to be like telling a third party to be the best bid up to a certain #. It in actuality seemingly peeks at your bid and allows the first people in with auto bid to jump in front of you with out ever even showing your bid. I think the current system is unfair. Any thoughts?

Maybe it could be improved, but how would you do it? Nothing is completely fail-safe. This issue has been discussed at great length before and I'm sure c-bid listens -- they alter it from time to time. If you've got any ideas, e-mail c-bid -- they're very receptive. Hey, does your name come from the movie "Usual Suspects"? What a great show!

In that flick, Kevin Spacey played a dual role, Kizersoesa and Verbal the gimp. It was one of the better movies of that year. Thankyouverymuch.

If I understrand it correctly ... the only way someone can 'jump' in front of you, is if they bid before you (time wise) or have a higher bid ...

That was a great movie! Especially when it hit Chaz Palmerti what was going on! "Whoops I have been taken advantage of and fooled by that guy"!!!

yes it does! i would suggest that it would require an auti bid to be the high bid not to take the place of the bid that i make

the problem slim is that if an auto bid is in at lets say 7 with a limit of 15 in 2 dollar increments and you come in at 9 your bid will never be seen and the auto bid will take your place. the only reason that the bid went to 9 is you and yet you don't get to have a chance. technically you bid 9 first! the purpose of an auto bid is to act like a third party sitting at an auction. if you told someone to sit in an auction for you and to be the high bid up to a certain price then they would not be able to match the price and have an advantage. THEY HAVE TO BE HIGH BID TO WIN!!!!

I still don't understand what you are trying to say. Maybe I'm just slow. I want something that is, say $7 at the time of my wanting to bid on it, and it's in two dollar increments. Someone (maybe more than one) already there has their auto bid set up to bid a maxium of $15 for that item. I bid $9 on it. Of course I'm not going to show ... I wasn't high enough. And of course, since I did place a bid, those who used that feature will have their bids increase. Only when I pass the lowest autobid will I be in the running. Am I missing something?

... and technically, the person who told his autobid to go to $15 had his bid in first, not the one who came in at a later time. He also won't loose the time of his original bid by using autobid. Once his maxium has been outbid, he will have to come back in at a different (later) time, and those with bids the same as he will be ahead of him ...

That's right. The premise that autobid acts as a third party bidder isn't quite correct, it's more like a time stamp. Just means you have to check often and bid early.

I understand exactly what you are saying and I complained about it to C-bid. Their reply was that this was the way they chose to set it up and they were not going to change it for now. My biggest problem with the system is that if I have a top limit in my auto bid for $9 and later, someone else enters a bid with a top limit for $11, they will knock me out of the bidding and STILL GET THE ITEM FOR $9. I feel that they should have to pay $11 for the item in order to eliminate me particulary since I had bid first. I have learned to except this little nuance because this site is a great place to get some good deals.

I'd like to chime in with a few comments:

1. Turdon - based on your example, the person who outbid you would only win at $11, not $9. The situation you explained was modified during our update last November.

2. Slimboli - you are exactly correct. The priority is on the bid date/time regardless of whether you have autobid or not. However, the bid date/time for an auto-bidder is stamped at the time of the original bid.

SLIM, You do understand the way that it works but I believe that they should just do away with the whole thing.

Gonz, I wasn't aware of the change. Thanks for the update.

Kizzy. You're right that the auto-bid feature does not act like a "third party". In a true auction, the bidding would alternate between bidders, but with auto-bid, the FIRST bidder stays on top untill he is OUTbid (over his top limit). So you are correct, but I like the way CB does it because it pays you to be an early bird and prevents you from having to visit several times a day once you have a bid in. It allows a cheap schmuck like myself to bid my max with the hope of getting it lower. What's wrong with that?