What is a "Minimum Bid Increment?"

Most eBay gurus say, "The highest bid always wins." However, it is more correct to say, "The highest bid always wins, as long as that bid is at least one Minimum Bid Increment (MBI) higher than any previous bids."

The highest bid does not always win!

The high bid does not always win due to the minimum bid increment. The order of bids matters. And the cost of the item factors in as well.

The MBI is often forgotten in times of heated competition. For a bid to register on eBay, when there are already at least one (1) or more existing bids, the MBI must be added to the current price to win.

If two bidders are using a snipe service, and the bid amounts are within the range of one MBI, the earlier snipe will win, not the later snipe. This situation occurs frequently.

Example 1

Example 2

In this example, the following are given:

• You set a snipe at service #1 to fire at 10 seconds for $1,000.
• A competitor sets a snipe at service #2 to fire at 3 seconds for $1,000.
• Each sniping service places two or more bids at the same time.
• All clocks involved are synchronized to eBay.

Here is what occurs for each snipe:

1. One of your bids hits first at 10 seconds before closing and receives the message, "Congratulations, you are the high bidder."
2. Your subsequent bids fire and eBay returns the message, "You are already the high bidder. To increase your bid, please bid (bid amount) or more."
3. All of your competitors' bids hit at 3 seconds before closing and eBay returns the message, "Your bid is too low. Please bid (this amount) or more." for all of them.
4. You win, because your bid came first.

The above example is true even if the bid is higher, but still not high enough to meet the cost plus minimum bid increment.

As the minimum bid increases with the current price of the auction, the higher the cost of the auction, the more important it is to bid earlier, not later.

Minimum Bid Increments by Country

USD

GBP

EUR

See Also

• Adding a Snipe
• Do You Bid the Minimum Amount