Reading the Bid History
Every lot shows the bids placed on it — when, which paddle, the price after, and whether it took the lead or was beaten by someone's standing maximum. Nobody's maximum is ever shown.
Every lot's page has a Bid History table under the lot's details. It is the same list for everyone, and it is the plainest answer to "how did the price get here": each row is one bid, in the order it was placed.
What Each Column Means
- When: the moment the bid was placed, in the auction house's time zone.
- Bidder: the paddle number of the bidder at this house, such as #1042. Names are never shown to other bidders; the house's staff see the name beside the number.
- Price after: the current price of the lot once that bid had been applied. This is not the amount the bidder typed — it is where the price stood after the site had worked out who leads.
- Result: what the bid did, as one of the tags below.
The Tags
- took the lead — this bid made its bidder the high bidder at that moment.
- outbid by proxy — this bid was beaten straight away by another bidder's standing maximum. The site bids for the leader automatically, one step at a time, only as far as it has to, so a new bid below the leader's ceiling raises the price without changing who is winning. See Placing a bid and maximum bids.
- extended — this bid landed inside the closing window and pushed this lot's closing time back, so a last-second bid can always be answered. See Soft close.
- voided by the house — the house cancelled this bid (a mistaken bid the bidder asked to have removed, for example). The row stays, because the record is never edited, and the lot's price was worked out again without it.
The table shows the most recent 25 bids.
Why the Price Can Move Twice on One Bid
If you bid above the current price but below the leader's maximum, two things happen in one row: the price rises to one step above your bid, and the leader stays the leader. That row shows outbid by proxy. If your bid goes past their maximum, you take the lead and the price is one step above their old ceiling, never your own maximum.
What Is Never Here
Nobody's maximum bid appears in the history, or anywhere else a bidder can reach. The reserve amount is never shown either, only whether it has been met. The history is written by the site as each bid lands and is never edited, which is what makes it the record if anyone ever asks whether the auction was run fairly.