How it works

No. Automatic bidding runs on our servers, not in your browser. Once you've set a maximum you can close the page, lock your phone, or switch it off entirely — when a rival bids, we respond for you within the same instant, and we'd still respond if you were asleep.

Keeping the page open only changes what you see. Prices and the countdown refresh live while it's open; nothing about your bidding depends on it.

The most you are willing to pay. We do not bid it straight away — we bid the smallest amount that puts you in front, and raise you by one increment at a time only when someone bids against you. If nobody pushes you, you win below your maximum. Nobody, including the seller, can see it.

You can raise it any time. You cannot lower it or delete it, because a bid is a commitment to pay — if maximums could be withdrawn, anyone could drive a price up and then duck out, and every honest bidder would pay for it.

What you can do is stop bidding for me on the auction page. That caps you at what you've already bid: the bid you've made stands, but we won't raise you again, so the next rival bid takes the lead.

The step size the seller sets for that item — every bid must beat the current price by at least that much. It's shown on the auction page next to the minimum next bid, and it's fixed once the auction is live.

A hidden floor. If the bidding never reaches it, the item doesn't sell, even though there were bids. You're never told the figure, but if your maximum reaches it the price moves up to the reserve and the item is on track to sell. Not every auction has one.

Not usefully. A bid placed in the closing moments pushes the end time out, so everyone gets a chance to answer it. The auction ends only after the late bidding stops.

You and the seller arrange payment and delivery between yourselves — AuctionApp hosts the auction, it does not handle the money or hold the item. Check the seller's terms before you bid.

Create a storefront, then add an item: title, description, photos, a start price, a bid increment, and optionally a reserve. It saves as a draft. Publish when you're ready and pick how long it runs — that's when the clock starts.

Nothing at the moment. Listing is free while we launch.

Partly. Before it goes live you can change anything. Once it's live you can add photos and change the reserve — nothing else. The title, description, start price and increment are locked, and published photos can't be removed or reordered.

That's deliberate: people have committed real money against the item as described. Editing the description under a standing bid is a bait-and-switch, and raising the increment mid-auction freezes out bidders on an item going cheap.

No — the platform blocks it for you and anyone on your storefront. Bidding up your own item is fraud, and since buyers settle with you directly there's nobody else to absorb the damage.

Automatically at the end time, allowing for any late-bid extensions. The winner is the highest bidder, provided the reserve was met; otherwise it closes unsold. You don't have to be online for it.