Are you allowed to do this on Ebay?

Question

I was bidding on an item, and I was winning for the duration of the 5 days the guy had the item on there, so time was winding down. Their was a minute left, so I kept refreshing the page because it was my first time buying something on Ebay, and someother bidder bidded on an item with 1 second left.

I don't see how that's fair at all? Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of the bidding system? If everyone followed that guy's philosophy of bidding with 5 seconds left, they're would be no such thing as an auction.

Answer 1

Sniping on e-bay has been around since the first auctions it ever held.  I think you may have misunderstood the bidding process with e-bay... you bid the maximum that you would be willing to pay and it will automatically raise your bid when somebody tries to out bid you.

Answer 2

i dont know if its fair.... probably not. anyway i know that there is a program that bids on the last second for u but i cant remember what its called.

Answer 3

it's not really fair, but it's not illegal. I've sniped bid, and I've had it done to me.