Dann,
If you like it short and easy to understand, read R2’s post. If you like it long and long, read this post.
According to your example, this is what you would have seen in the bid history:
Right “before” Me (you) place their (your) bid, the bid history would have looked like this:
$10.50 Outtablue Sep 14, 1pm
$10 Soandso Sep 15, 2pm
For Me to place a bid, the “minimum” bid would have been $11 (Outtablue’s $10.50 “current” bid + $.50 ebay increment). Right “after” Me’s bid, the bid history would have looked like this:
$11.50 Outtablue Sep 14, 1pm
$11 Me Sep 16, 5:59pm
$10 Soandso Sep 15, 2pm
Me’s $11 bid only increased Outtablue’s “current” bid to $11.50 (Me’s $11 “maximum” bid + $.50 ebay increment). Outtablue’s “maximum” bid could have been, and probably was, something higher. Don’t get “current” bid confused with “maximum” bid. The “current” bid is only the portion of the high bidder’s “maximum” bid that it takes to bid “up to” a full ebay increment above the second highest bidder (reserve auctions should be reserved for a different discussion).
When a bidder’s “current” bid is increased via ebay’s proxy bidding system, a new bid is NOT recorded in the bid history with a new timestamp. Only the bid amount is increased.
To carry on this example, after Me’s bid, the new minimum bid would have been $12 (Outtablue’s $11.50 “current” bid + $.50 ebay increment). Let’s say that Outtablue’s “maximum” bid was $20, this is what the bid history would have looked like had someone else placed an $18 “maximum” bid:
$18.50 Outtablue Sep 14, 1pm
$18 Someoneelse Sep 16, 5:59:01pm
$11 Me Sep 16, 5:59pm
$10 Soandso Sep 15, 2pm
And, while I’m at it, and getting into the spirit of things, this is what the bid history would have looked like if Someoneelse placed their bid 2 seconds earlier:
$18.50 Outtablue Sep 14, 1pm
$18 Someoneelse Sep 16, 5:58:59pm
$10 Soandso Sep 15, 2pm
You’ll notice that Me (you) ain’t showing.
Also notice that the timestamp for Outtablue’s bid never changed, but his “current” bid sure did.