[rez]

Just bid on an old goldenage comic on ebay that said it had zero bids on it. Once I bid instantly the window comes up that says I have been outbid.
Chances are close to zilch that someone just happened to bid a higher price at the exact moment I did so what's up with this?
Is there a hidden bid program available that let's a first time bid be kept off the board until someone else bids or what?

This, I'd like to know.
Cheers

[cimmerian32]

My guess is the item has a reserve, and your bid did not beat that...

Cimm

[darkmark]

That's it exactly.  Another bidder can put a reserve bid on any item, which just means he puts a top price that he's willing to pay for it, and if that top price exceeds your bid, it goes to him.

[rez]

Ah, so a private reserve bid can be made with no showing of it on the site until a public bid is made. I see.

So if a book has a starting price of $.99 and a reserve unshown bid of $5.00 is given and no one bids on the item, then it is sold to the $5.00 reserve bidder for $.99 ?

[Aussie500]

Are you sure there were not other bids? For another bidder to have a higher reserve than your bid he would have either had to bid at the same time as yourself, or already been the highest bidder before you put a bid in rez. Are you sure it is not your bid that is showing?

[rez]

Yes, that was the puzzling thing out of the whole deal. ) bids so I bid, then the window instantly came up telling me that I had been outbid when it said 0 bids when I first bid.

Thinking this over now I seem to recall noticing that at times a different page will say 0 bids but then when you begin the normal bidding process and the new window appears it reveals a bid or bids

so perhaps I was trying one of the different approaches to bidding that had this jet lag time involved but I can't recall.
Thanks

[JonTheScanner]

The list page, like "Golden Age Comics Ending Today", is not updated immediately.  So that could show 0 bids even when there are bids.