Placing a bid
Learn how bidding works on Trade Me – including auto-bidding and minimum bid increments.
Find out how to place a bid, and place and manage auto-bids.
Bidding
- Start price
Minimum first bid amount – every auction has a start price. - Reserve
Minimum sale price. If an auction has a reserve, it will only sell if bidding exceeds the reserve amount. - Auto-extend
If any bid is placed within the last two minutes of an auction, the auction will auto-extend by two minutes. - Minimum bid increments
Depending on what the leading bid of an auction is, there are different minimum bid amounts for the next bid placed:
| Minimum bid requirements | |
|---|---|
| Up to $20 | $0.50 |
| Between $20 and $200 | $1.00 |
| Between $200 and $1,000 | $5.00 |
| Between $1,000 and $5,000 | $10.00 |
| Between $5,000 and $25,000 | $50.00 |
| Over $25,000 | $100.00 |
Auto-bidding
Let us do the mahi for you – so you don't need to keep watching the auction.
When you set an auto-bid:
- You set your maximum bid amount.
- When someone bids higher than you, we'll place the next minimum bid for you.
- You'll stay in the lead – until you reach your maximum bid.
- No additional bids will be placed if you lead the bidding.
Setting an auto-bid
- Select
on an auction.
- Enter your maximum bid in the 'Maximum bid' field.
- Select the
Auto-bid toggle.
- Select
.
- Confirm your bid.
- Select Place bid on an auction.
- Enter your maximum bid in the bid box.
- Select the Auto-bid toggle.
- Select Set auto-bid.
- Confirm your bid.
- Select Place bid on an auction.
- Enter your maximum bid in the bid box.
- Select the Auto-bid toggle.
- Select Set auto-bid.
Edit or remove an auto-bid
To increase or lower your maximum price, set another auto-bid to replace the old one.
To remove a placed auto-bid, follow our bid removal process.
FAQ
If your auto-bid is below or equal to the reserve, your maximum auto-bid will be placed. If an existing auto-bid is greater than yours, your auto-bid will also jump to its maximum.
If your auto-bid exceeds the reserve, a bid will be placed equal to the reserve. You will then lead the bidding until your auto-bid is exceeded.
If another member places a bid equal to your maximum auto-bid, your maximum auto-bid will be placed. This will appear as two consecutive bids from you. Auto-bids have priority over normal bids of the same value as they were placed earlier.
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