Highlights of bidding configuration:

1. control whether standard auctions are allowed or not
2. control whether dutch auctions are allowed or not
3. allow proxy bidding, proxy bidding after reserve met or just straight bidding
4. allow bidding against self. This allows the current winning bidder to raise their own bid. If a bidders bid isn't accepted in the system that because it's not high enough or they are outbid by a proxy bid they can immediately rebid and raise their own bid.
5. allow invited bidders feature
6. allow blacklist bidders feature
7. allow the seller to set a specific end time for their auction instead of just a duration. If no end time is set their duration choice will have affect. If a specific end time is set their duration choice is ignored.
8. allow auction start time be set. The client must still set a duration or end time (if allowed). The auction is live immediately within the system but bidding can only start after the start time if it is set.
9. allow buy now bid until reserve met or first accepted bid
10. allow editing of a live auctions details until the first bid or not
11. allow editing of a live auctions price until the first bid or not
12. Only allow the admin to remove auctions
13. Allow an auction to be automatically extended for a set time if a bid is received within the set time of the end of the auction. This helps fight auction bid sniping.

Look for the bidding configuration choices site wide to be here in the admin tool:

LISTING SETUP > GENERAL SETTINGS > AUCTION SPECIFIC SETTINGS

Within this section you can control proxy/straight bidding, allow bidding against self (raise your own winning bid), allow buy now till first bid or reserve, allow editing of auction.

Within this section you can also configure the "endless auction" feature to combat auction sniping. The following two settings allow you set a time within the end of the auction that if a bid is received that auction will be extended by the set time:

LISTING SETUP > GENERAL SETTINGS > Extend an Auction by
LISTING SETUP > GENERAL SETTINGS > . . . when a Bid is made within

If you set the former one for "1 hour" and the latter for "10 minutes" the auction will be extended by 1 hour if a bid is accepted within 10 minutes of the close of the auction.

By default the system manages bidding using the proxy bidding model described in standard auction bidding support wiki page here.

You can configure bidding a couple other different ways than the default above. You configure that through the following admin tool setting:

LISTING SETUP > GENERAL SETTINGS > Proxy Bidding

You would leave this setting at Enable Proxy Bidding to get the above named configuration.

With this configuration the proxy bidding system will only have an effect if the current bidding exceeds the reserve price of the auction. Any bid accepted for an auction that's below the reserve is entered at the max value of the bid without respect to the minimum bid.

Example Scenario: Reserve Bid: $200 Current/Minimum Bid: $50 Bid Increment up to $1000 is $10

Bidder A: bid $75 and $75 is entered as the bid. Is the only bidder and so is the current high bidder with $75 bid. Bidder B: Bids $125 and $125 is entered as the bid. Outbids A and is the current high bidder with $125 bid. Bidder C: Bids $175 and $175 is entered as the bid. Outbids B and is the current high bidder with $175 bid. Bidder A: was outbid and returns with bid of $250. His bid is entered as $200 and their max proxy bid is inserted as $250.

Normal proxy bidding model as described above is followed once the reserve is met.

With this set all proxy bidding is removed. All accepted bids (at or above the minimum bid) are entered as the current bid for the user bidding. No proxy bidding will be used by the system. This will work like described in the **proxy bidding if reserve met" except that straight bidding is all the time with no possibility of the system proxy bidding for you.

This feature allows the current winning bidder to bid against themselves or raise their own high bid. This only affects the current high bidder as all "non current high bidders" can bid against the current high bid as many times as they like until their bid is the highest bid. But by default the system does not allow the current high bidder to raise their own current high bid. Changing this configuration allows that to happen.