Bidding rules
How bids work on Haubot auctions — minimum increments, reserve, Buy Now, anti-sniping and the binding-bid rule. Same mechanics across both auction modes.
The bidding engine is identical across Seller Managed and Haubot Managed auctions. The differences between modes show up after the auction closes, not during bidding.
Who can bid
Only verified business users can place bids. Private individuals acting as consumers are not eligible. Before your first bid, your account must be:
- Registered as a business with company information on file.
- Email-verified and phone-verified.
- Not under any active restriction (deposit failure, dispute sanction, suspended account).
Some lots may impose additional restrictions — for example, exporters-only or specific country exclusions. The restriction is shown on the lot page.
Minimum bid increment
The minimum next bid is the current price plus the bid increment for that auction. The increment is 5% of the auction's starting price, with a USD 50 floor and a USD 500 ceiling.
Examples:
- Starting price USD 200 → increment is USD 50 (clamped to floor).
- Starting price USD 5,000 → increment is USD 250.
- Starting price USD 50,000 → increment is USD 500 (clamped to ceiling).
The next valid bid amount is shown on every auction page; you can't enter a smaller value.
Reserve price
The reserve is the lowest price the seller is willing to accept. It is hidden from bidders — you only see a "reserve met / not met" indicator that updates as bids come in.
If the auction closes with the highest bid below the reserve, the auction ends as Reserve Not Met: no sale, no success fee, deposits on both sides are released. The seller can relist.
If the highest bid meets or exceeds the reserve (or no reserve was set), the highest bidder wins.
Buy Now
If the seller set a Buy Now price, any verified bidder can end the auction immediately by accepting that price. Buy Now is available while it is offered on the auction page — it may be withdrawn once bidding crosses a certain level (where the seller has configured that).
Once Buy Now is triggered, the auction closes immediately, the buyer is treated as the winning bidder, and the standard post-win obligations apply.
Anti-sniping
A bid placed in the last 2 minutes of an auction automatically pushes the end time forward by 2 minutes. Repeated late bids keep extending until there's a quiet 2-minute window with no further bid.
The extension never shortens an auction — it only delays the close so other bidders have a fair chance to respond. This neutralises last-second bid sniping.
Bids are binding
Every bid is a binding offer to buy at that amount. Bids cannot be withdrawn or retracted once placed.
Haubot may invalidate a bid only in narrow circumstances:
- Confirmed material platform error (e.g. wrong currency, wrong price displayed, malformed listing).
- Suspected manipulation (collusion, multi-account bidding, sham bids).
- Confirmed sanctions or compliance block on the bidder.
In every other case, if you win, you are obligated to complete the transaction. The deposit you locked when bidding is the platform's enforcement lever.
Wallet deposit lock
Each bid you place locks a tier-based deposit against your wallet, sized by your bid amount:
| Bid amount | Deposit locked |
|---|---|
| < USD 10,000 | USD 100 |
| USD 10,000 – USD 100,000 | USD 1,000 |
| USD 100,000 – USD 500,000 | USD 5,000 |
| ≥ USD 500,000 | USD 10,000 |
If you raise your bid into a higher tier, the system tops up automatically — your wallet just needs sufficient balance for the new tier. There's no separate top-up step.
See Deposits and fees for the full deposit and fee model.
What you see on the auction page
- Current price — the highest valid bid so far.
- Next valid bid — current price plus the auction's increment.
- Reserve indicator — "Reserve met" or "Reserve not met" (the actual number is hidden).
- Time remaining — live countdown; extends automatically under anti-sniping.
- Bid history — every accepted bid with timestamp; bidder identities are masked from non-owners.