Autobid query

[Cali Craft and Gems 14]

I have an interesting "problem" that has happened before, but due to the higher value of this auction, this has seriously p'd me off!

 

Auction: Africana - Locomotives of the South African Railways - A Concise Guide - Leith Paxton & David Bourne for sale in Wellington (ID:32414710)

 

My first bid a few weeks ago was R245, and another buyer outbid me this morning - their "bid" was R260.

 

I placed an amount of R315 in and was now the leader in this auction (other buyer's maximum autobid was R311). Then it showed that I had to insert a bid of R330 or higher as my "next bid" - I thought autobid - so I entered R331. Now the bid is sitting at R326 - that means I "raised" myself!?

 

How on earth is this possible? If I entered my autobid as R331 then surely my "current leading" bid of R315 should stand and not be increased?

 

Now I'm scared of putting in another amount to increase the autobid again just in case it increases again! So basically no matter what autobid I put in, the other buyer will win due to the "next amount / maximum bid" being higher than anything I insert (in this case the next bid is at R341)!

 

It looks like I'm going to lose out on that book after all then since the system is "against" me!

 

(PS. I use this "tactic" on most R1 auctions and it does not increase the bid according to my autobid - first entry is R1, then if the increment is R10 then my second bid is R12 or higher - without "jumping"!)

[donovink 10]

Also had this problem before. If you are the only bidder it leaves your current bid and increases your autobid but if someone else is bidding against you it doesn't seem to register as an autobid but and new bid value.

[Libertas Computers 10]

Had this one last year as well, ended up winning the bid, but upped it just before closing time in case and then I upped against myself and ended up paying R30 more (The increment value)

[lilythepink 11]

Sounds totally nuts to me - and wrong! No increase should be allowed with increments unless a buyer specifically places them!