AutoBidding

If you enter a figure in the "My Bid" field for any item, AuctionPrime will do its best to enter this bid for you at the appropriate time ... about 15 seconds before the end of the auction! This feature provides two benefits:

1. Experienced online auctioners know that most of the time, if you don't bid at the last moment on an auction, you won't win it. With this feature, you don't have to miss out on an auction just because it ends in the middle of the night, or while you have to be away from the house.

2. By entering the maximum bid with which you are comfortable, and letting AuctionPrime do the work, you're not tempted to "up" that bid at the last minute if it wasn't high enough. So if you do get outbid on an auction this way, its likely to save you money in the long run, as there's a good chance you'll find and win an auction on a similar item at some time in the future.

For AutoBidding to work, four things need to be true :
1. Of couse, AuctionPrime must be running
2. Your internet connection has to be up and running. (If you happen to be an AOL user, our "KillinTimer" program will keep AOL from signing you off for inactivity if you need to leave AOL running so that AuctionPrime can make the bid for you.)
3. You must have a value entered in the "My Bid" field.
4. The item's status must be set to "Autobid"

When the time is drawing close for an auction for which you've entered a bid in the "My Bid" field, AuctionPrime will show an Alarm Window for the item. It will display, for example:

These Alarm windows have a "Go There" button in case you want to see the auction's web page.

At four minutes before Auction Close, the Alarm window will launch a Browser window with which to conduct the rest of the AutoBidding process. Most of the buttons on that Browser window will be disabled until the after the auction closes. Do not close that Browser window, or you will disturb the AutoBid process.

A couple of minutes before the auction ends, AuctionPrime will do everything needed to place your bid, except click the final button that places the bid. It will then wait until 15 seconds before the end of the auction, and click that button.

If you need to customize the above noted number of seconds, you can do so :
1. In the "Items of Interest" window, click on the "Settings" Tab.
2. in the list at the left, click "Miscellaneous".
3. Enter the number of seconds in the entry box provided. AuctionPrime will actually add three seconds to this when AutoBidding, to provide a margin of error.

If you have auctions closing during internet 'prime time' hours, you may want to increase the AutoBid interval to more than 15 seconds. If response from the internet or the auction's servers is very slow, your page submission for the bid may not get updated in time, causing you to miss out on that auction.

AuctionPrime sets your system clock by the Atomic Clock at the US Naval Observatory, so the time will be right. Sometimes, the online auction itself may not have their servers set to the correct time, but your computer will be correct. For some months prior to spring 2000, eBay's servers have had their time right on the money. This has not always been the case, however.

To sum up, just set your bids, make sure your internet connection is up, and let AuctionPrime worry about the rest. Come back later and AutoUpdate your item lists to see if you've won the auctions!

You will win more auctions, and at better prices on the average, by using AutoBid rather than doing this manually.

Note that you can set AutoBids for several like auction items and buy only one of them. See the "One Of Groups' section for details.