How to bid and what is automatic bidding?

Automatic Bidding on Bialto

Automatic bidding allows users to set a maximum amount they are willing to offer for an item in an auction. The Bialto site records this maximum amount and bids automatically on behalf of the user until the maximum amount is reached.

Practical Example of Automatic Bidding

Suppose an item is up for auction with an initial price of €5.00, and the next minimum bid is €5.25. User A is willing to pay up to €25.00 for this item. In this case, User A has two options to place their bid:

• Option 1: User A places a bid for only the next minimum bid (€5.25). The item price increases to €5.25, but they do not set a maximum amount, meaning they will have to bid manually if other bids are placed.

• Option 2: User A sets their maximum bid at €25.00. This bid is recorded by the system, and the item price also increases to €5.25, but Bialto already has the maximum amount they are willing to pay.
  
  

Interaction with Other Bids

Now, imagine User B places a bid of €6.00.

• If User A chose Option 1, User B becomes the auction leader since User A’s bid did not surpass User B’s.

• If User A chose Option 2, Bialto automatically adjusts User A's bid to €6.00. This happens because User A’s maximum amount is €25.00, so the automatic bidding system activates to match or exceed subsequent bids until the set limit is reached.
  
  

How Automatic Bidding Works

Whenever new bids below the maximum amount (in this example, €25.00) are placed, Bialto will place an automatic bid for the necessary amount to ensure that User A still has the highest offer, but without exceeding the maximum amount they set.

However, if a bid exceeds the €25.00 set by User A, they will be notified that their bid has been surpassed.

Example of Multiple Users with Automatic Bidding

If User B also opts for automatic bidding and sets a maximum bid of €50.00, the system will continue bidding on behalf of both User A and User B until User A’s maximum (€25.00) is reached. At that point, User B will become the highest bidder, and all previous bids (from User A) will be visible in the bidding history.

Criteria for Winner in Case of a Tie

If two bids are placed at the same amount, the winning bid will be determined based on the following criteria, in order of priority:

1. Automatic bid with the highest amount;
2. Bid placed first (if both automatic bids are of the same amount).