Here's an auction I tried myibay with:

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=220467336649

I had one manual bid in previously at $0.99. I put in a snipe bid of $41 through myibay.

Instead of the bid increment, myibay bid $41 with 7 seconds left. But then ebay shows another bid coming in after mine at $41.04, but the time for this bid was 4 seconds prior to mine. So, why wasn't the bid $1.49, or whatever the bid increment should have been? And how did a bid for 5 cents more than mine appear after mine, even though the time stamp was 4 seconds earlier? I have a feeling this has something to do with proxy bidding, but I don't get it.

Can someone explain what happened?

bid.png

This is normal. That's how sniping and proxy bid works.

Instead of the bid increment, myibay bid $41 with 7 seconds left. But then ebay shows another bid coming in after mine at $41.04, but the time for this bid was 4 seconds prior to mine. So, why wasn't the bid $1.49, or whatever the bid increment should have been?

You set $41 as your max so this is the amount which will be placed as a one shot. No incremental bidding.
If the other bidder would not bid $41.04, you would've won this item at $1.49.

And how did a bid for 5 cents more than mine appear after mine, even though the time stamp was 4 seconds earlier?

The history of bidding was the following:

Auction started: Starting bid is $0.99. No bidders. The lowest acceptable bid is $0.99 due to no bidders.

One day later: Someone bid $0.99. Current bid is $0.99. The lowest acceptable bid is $1.49 ($0.99 + increment).

7 seconds before ending (you bid): Current bid is $1.99. You are the highest bidder. The lowest acceptable bid is $2.49 (current bid + increment), any bid of $2.49 or higher will be accepted.

4 seconds before ending (someone else bid): Current bid went up to $41.04, because there is previous bid within one increment (you).

If you would not bid at all, then the current bid would be $0.99. Someone else gets it.
If you would've bid $20, then the current bid would be $20+increment. You lost to the higher bidder.
If you would've bid $41.05, then the current bid would be $41.05 (your bid if it's within "previous bid + increment" range). You are the winner.
If you would've bid $50, then the current bid would be $41.04 + increment. You are the winner.

P.S.: I always suggest to add a few cents more to the bid. It won't hurt you budget, but increase your chances to win. In the following example 5 cents more would make you a winner.

Thanks for the explanation. Just for clarification, I have a couple more questions:

Are you saying that the winning bidder put in a proxy bid for $41.04?

The time stamp on his/her bid was 4 seconds BEFORE mine; yet, mine shows up first at $41. It's like the bidder knew that my max bid was $41. Was this just a lucky guess on the other bidder's part? Or was his/her bid a proxy bid just greater than $41?

So even if I had put in $41.05 as my bid, the winning bid may have been $41.10? That's the only explanation I can come up with since the winning bid time stamp is 4 seconds BEFORE my bid. Also, I still don't get why $41 was put in for my bid instead of $1.49 if it was the second bid... what am I missing?

Thanks for explaining and thanks for the tip on adding the extra pennies -- I can see where that may be helpful in the future.

bte4 wrote:
Are you saying that the winning bidder put in a proxy bid for $41.04?

The time stamp on his/her bid was 4 seconds BEFORE mine; yet, mine shows up first at $41. It's like the bidder knew that my max bid was $41. Was this just a lucky guess on the other bidder's part? Or was his/her bid a proxy bid just greater than $41?

I would say it's a lucky guess. If the other bidder would put, let's say, $100, then the current bid will be $41 + increment = $42.00 (not $41.04).

bte4 wrote:
So even if I had put in $41.05 as my bid, the winning bid may have been $41.10?

No. The winning bid will be $41.05 with you as a winner.

bte4 wrote:
Also, I still don't get why $41 was put in for my bid instead of $1.49 if it was the second bid... what am I missing?

Sniping works well with proxy bidding so there is noone else bids, it does not matter if you put $1.49 or $50 -- you'll be the winner with the lowest winning amount just enough to win ($1.49 in your case).

You see your bid amount just because someone bid higher. If someone would've bid much lower (i.e. $30), then nobody can see your $41 bid.
If someone bid $30, then you get your item at $30 + increment.