You might reach your auto bid maximum straight away if:

• The seller has set a minimum price that matches or is higher than your auto bid limit. The item won’t sell unless the reserve price is met. This means your bid will go straight to the maximum, so you can meet or get as close as possible to the reserve price.
• Someone else has also set an auto bid with a limit just below yours. We’ll take you straight to the maximum bid if this is the next minimum bid above the other bidder. 
• Someone else has set an auto bid with the same maximum as yours. We’ll take you both straight to your auto bid limit and whoever placed their auto bid first will become the highest bidder.
• Someone else has set an auto bid with a maximum that’s higher than yours. Although they will be the highest bidder, we’ll take you straight to your maximum so you can get as close as possible to their bid.

Although you might reach your maximum straight away in these cases, it’s important to remember we’ll always stop at the limit you’ve set. This means that you’re always in control of how high your bidding can go. 

If you’d like to find out more about auto bids, click here.