What is proxy bidding?

All bids placed on a marketplace hosted by B-Stock act as “proxy” bids.

To get the most out of this system, it is best to bid the highest amount you are willing to pay, which is known as your maximum bid. Once entered, the system will manage the bidding for you, acting as your proxy.

Example: An auction has a starting bid of $1000. You decide the highest you would pay for the auction is $5000, so you enter that as your maximum bid. You are now winning the auction at $1000.

If another bidder comes in and bids $1100 as their maximum, then your bid of $5000 will automatically outbid them one increment higher as your proxy. You are now winning the auction at $1125 without bidding a second time. The system will continue to automatically outbid other bidders as your proxy, but will never exceed your maximum bid of $5000.

If another bidder inputs a maximum bid over $5000, then you will be outbid, and have the choice to input a new maximum bid to act as your proxy, or move on to another auction.

The bid interval amount only applies to the minimum bid amount. Maximum bids from competing bidders can be within any amount of each other.

In the example above, when you are winning the auction at $1125 with your maximum bid of $5,000, the minimum bid amount for others wanting to participate would be $1150. 

If a bidder chose to input a maximum bid of $5,001, the system will accept the bid because it exceeds the minimum amount. You lose the bid because their maximum bid is greater than yours by one dollar. You will be given the opportunity to input a new minimum bid of $5026 or move on to another auction.