auction Auction; bee outbid at the same millisecond?

[Itonami Hilltop]

So i was trying my luck at land auction, and ever time i place a bid, it says someone has out bid me, to the same millisecond. I dont understand how someone can outbid me in the millisecond. :T Or if its just trying to bloat the price. Can someone explain this to me, or if it is just screwing me over?

Status: You are not the leading bidder.

BID AMOUNT	DATE/TIME
L$850 (0.83 L$ per M²)	2020-05-01 | 20:32:37 SLT
L$840 (This is your bid) (0.82 L$ per M²)	2020-05-01 | 20:32:37 SLT

[Alwin Alcott]

3 hours ago, Itonami Hilltop said:

So i was trying my luck at land auction, and ever time i place a bid, it says someone has out bid me, to the same millisecond. I dont understand how someone can outbid me in the millisecond. :T Or if its just trying to bloat the price. Can someone explain this to me, or if it is just screwing me over?

Status: You are not the leading bidder.

BID AMOUNT	DATE/TIME
L$850 (0.83 L$ per M²)	2020-05-01 | 20:32:37 SLT
L$840 (This is your bid) (0.82 L$ per M²)	2020-05-01 | 20:32:37 SLT

the other user most likely has a higher maximum bid, everytime you go over it, the system will place the higher one above you, so yes that's going in a millisecond.

[Qie Niangao]

15 minutes ago, Itonami Hilltop said:

This is unfortunate, every land i've tried has this problem

Hmm, I think the FAQ used to explain this better. What shows on the auctions page as the "Leading Bid" is only the minimum that was required for a bidder to become the leading bidder -- it is not what they set as their own maximum bid. So as Alwin said, that person's maximum bid may already be far above what's showing as "leading" at the moment, there's no way for you to know in advance how high they set their maximum bid, and whatever that is you'll need to outbid it in order to become the new leading bidder. 

If you think about it, perhaps it will be obvious why it works this way. If you knew what their maximum bid was, you could bid right up to that amount without exceeding it, thus forcing every bidder to pay the very maximum they bid. That would obviously change the whole strategy of the auction, defeating the whole idea of a "maximum bid." Auctions could work that way, but it would be a big change.

[Lindal Kidd]

@Itonami Hilltop,

Have you ever tried the auctions on eBay?  The LL land auctions work the same way.  Let's walk through an example.

• There are two bidders, Ito and Lindal.
• The parcel is 2048 square meters, advertised with an opening bid of $L 2048, $L 1 per sq. m.
• Lindal put in a maximum bid amount of  $L5,000.  She is currently the high bidder, at $L2,048.  (Her maximum bid is not visible to other bidders, only the current leading bid.)
• Ito puts in a maximum bid amount of $L3,000.
• The auction engine increases the current highest bid to Ito's bid, $L3,000.
• But, Lindal has authorized a higher amount.  So the auction engine immediately increases the bid again, to $L3,010.  Lindal is the leading bidder.
• Ito check his auction, and sees this.  He decides to increase his bid to $L4,000.
• The auction engine increases the highest bid to $L4,000.  Ito's the leading bidder!
• But, Lindal's maximum authorized bid is still higher.  So the auction engine again increases the bid, to $L4,010.  Lindal is back in the lead.

This will continue until a) the auction ends, or b) Ito submits a maximum bid that's higher than the $L5,000 that Lindal submitted.

When you make a bid, don't just bid a little higher than the current maximum.  Enter a bid that is the MOST you are willing to pay for the parcel.  If you're then outbid, just shrug and walk away.  There will always be another auction.

 

[Mollymews]

one or even a few times this happens can mean that it is just a coincidence

if this has been happening to you more than a few times then is more likely that someone is a using a bot program to watch the bids and do the overbidding

Edited May 2, 2020 by Mollymews
a

[Mollymews]

what Alwin said

[Itonami Hilltop]

This is unfortunate, every land i've tried has this problem

[Itonami Hilltop]

@Lindal Kidd I know how the auction works. But its disconcerting that if at 10:34:21 I place a bid, and get outbid at 10:34:21 by someone else. It should be near impossible be outbidded in the same second, let alone millisecond. For this to happen 8 or 9 times in a row should be astronomically unheard of as a 'coincidence'.  I think Molly has got it, that they're botting to always get highest.

 

[Parhelion Palou]

Lindal explained how the system works. There may be bidding bots, but they aren't causing what you're seeing. Only the system itself could respond that fast.

Or put it this way: Someone else did outbid you, but they may have done it well before you started bidding when they entered their maximum bid. You enter the highest amount you're willing to pay for the parcel. The system handles the bidding.

Edited May 2, 2020 by Parhelion Palou
more info

[Itonami Hilltop]

Ah I see. So it’s not telling you what the actual highest bid. Thanks for explain. I had to reread it several times.