Retracting a bid and Automatic bidding

Retracting a bid

If you've made a mistake when bidding on an item, you can retract your bid in certain circumstances.

Whenever you place a bid, you're agreeing to buy the item if you win the auction. However, in some situations you can retract your bid.

Keep in mind that you can't always retract a bid once it's made –if you're not able to retract your bid, you can also try contacting the seller to see if they'll cancekl your bid for you.

When you can retract a bid

You can retract a bid if:

• The seller significantly changed the description of the item
• You accidentally bid the wrong amount. For example, you meant to bid $20, not $200. In this case, enter the price you intended to bid as soon as you've retracted the incorrect bid
• You can't reach the seller. For example, you sent the seller an email and it comes back undeliverable, or you tried calling the seller and the phone number doesn't work

As well as the above, timing is also important when retracting a bid:

• If there are 12 hours or more left before the listing ends, all of your bids can be retracted
• If the listing is ending in less than 12 hours, you can retract your most recent bid if it's been less than an hour since you placed it

Any other bids can't be retracted, but you can contact the seller to see if they'll agree to cancel a bid for you.

Automatic bidding

Automatic bidding is the easiest way to bid on an eBay auction. Simply enter the highest price you're willing to pay for an item, and we do the rest.

When you're ready to bid on an auction listing, enter the maximum amount you feel comfortable with. We'll then bid on your behalf – enough to keep you in the lead, but only up to that limit.

If someone outbids you, we'll let you know so you can decide if you want to increase your maximum limit.