My nickname is "the Queen of all things ebay"......

Paul is correct. It's called "Proxy bidding."
When you enter a bid amount higher than the current high bid (Usually about $1 some times it's .50 cents on cheaper items) the ebay system AUTOMATICALLY does "proxy bidding" for you (and all ebay bidders).

So if current bid is showing as $50 and YOU enter $100 as your maximum bid...it will enter a bid of $51 for you..... if nobody else has entered a maximum bid higher, you become the new high bidder at $51.

Then I come along as another bidder and bid $75 MAXIMUM....it enters it as $52 and then ebay's computer proxy system immediately recognizes that YOU have a $100 max sitting there...so ebay's system bids $52 ON YOUR BEHALF. This happens in like a nano-second so it's all automated and instanatious. I get a message saying I've been outbid.

That's the situation you're describing right now.


Next, I decide to bid again and try to become the high bidder. Until I bid ABOVE your $100 MAX, you will remain the high bidder with the bid going up in increments of $1. (at some point the increment gets bigger, don't know when it clicks over to $5 increments or whatever).

Ebay's automatic/proxy bidding will ONLY bid your money UP to the MAX you entered, AND ONLY if it has to to outbid another bidder. So it's totally safe to enter a maximum bid...just make sure you're willing to pay the amount you enter as your max bid.

You get to enter e NEW MAX bid every single time you are placing a bid. You do NOT have to enter the MINimum of $1 (in my example above)....you can, but you may have to enter like 25 or 30 individual bids until you EXCEED the max bid of whomever is in the lead.

Because the system works this way....I find it better strategy to ONLY bid at near the very end of the auction....like 15 seconds or less before it ends. Otherwise, you are just bidding the item up in value over and over.

I like to come in with 5 or 10 seconds left and enter a whopper of a max bid (an amount I'm willing to pay for the item). I even open up my computer's analog clock graphic so I can see it and time it down to the second.
I virtually always WIN because many ebay users such as yourself, are not familiar enough with how the bidding/proxy bidding system works and very often have NOT entered a very high max amount. I've lost out maybe 4 times in many many many auctions.

RISKS to doing it my way:
1) If your internet connection craps out or slows down in the crucial last 10-15 seconds...you lose out.

2) IF someone else has a max bid on file that's HIGHER than what I just bid in that last 10 seconds...THEY will become the high bidder and I won't have enough time to enter ANOTHER bid...time will have run out.

KEY POINTS OFTEN NOT UNDERSTOOD BY NEW EBAYERS:
Just remember, ebay's proxy BID system is automatic, and it is effective on each and every bid, for all bidders.

Also, ebay will NOT spend your money unless it has to to TRY to get you as high bidder, so don't think if you enter $100 you absolutely will pay that much for the item.....you only will if some other bidder bids it up to that amount.

PM me if you have any other questions.....ebay's my guilty pleasure ....so I can give you lots of info so you can win what you want.