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GlossaryBuying and selling

Proxy bid

A proxy bid is the maximum amount you authorize an auction platform to bid for you; the system raises your bid automatically, one increment at a time, only as far as needed to keep you in the lead.

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Also called proxy bidding · max bid · automatic bidding

Proxy bid, explained

Your maximum stays hidden, and other bidders see only a current price just high enough to beat the next-highest bid. Dynadot, for example, documents that a new bid which merely matches the leader's maximum leaves the earlier bidder in front, and its expired-domain auctions add five minutes whenever a bid arrives in the final five minutes, which blunts last-second sniping. Increments, extensions, deposits and payment deadlines differ by platform, so read the rules before you bid.

Set your maximum once, from your own valuation and comparable sales, before the auction gets busy. The classic mistake is raising your proxy again and again in the closing minutes, which is how auctions turn into overpayment. Round numbers are another trap: a maximum of exactly five thousand loses to anyone who chose a little more, so many bidders set odd amounts just above round figures. If you lose at your limit, someone valued the name more than you did, and that is a result, not a failure.

Example. A proxy bid in the low four figures let the bidder skip the closing minutes; the system answered each rival bid up to that ceiling and no further.

Go deeper Expired Domains and Drop Catching: How the Domain Lifecycle Works

Sources

  1. Dynadot Help — How does proxy bidding work?
  2. Dynadot — Expired domain auctions

Education, not financial, legal or tax advice. Domain investing is speculative and most domain names never sell. Read the disclaimer.

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