uBid Help
Bidding | Bid increments | Selling | Feedback stars |
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- Register (it's free) or sign in.
- Find something you like and scroll to the Bidding section at the bottom of the item page.
- Enter your maximum bid -- the most you are willing to pay -- and click Review bid.
- Confirm with your User ID and password and click Place bid.
Proxy bidding: you never have to sit by the computer. uBid's proxy bids on your behalf, raising your bid one increment at a time,
only as much as needed to stay ahead, up to your maximum. If somebody else's maximum is higher, you will be outbid and can bid again.
When two maximums tie, the earlier bid wins. The winner pays one increment above the runner-up's maximum, never more than their own maximum.
Reserve price: some sellers set a secret minimum. If bidding ends below it, the item doesn't sell. Item pages say "reserve not yet met" until it is.
When does it end? Exactly at the time shown, to the second. Auctions here run for 3, 5 or 7 days, and a closed auction is relisted two days later.
| Current price | Bid increment |
| $0.01 - $0.99 | $0.05 |
| $1.00 - $4.99 | $0.25 |
| $5.00 - $24.99 | $0.50 |
| $25.00 - $99.99 | $1.00 |
| $100.00 - $249.99 | $2.50 |
| $250.00 - $499.99 | $5.00 |
| $500.00 - $999.99 | $10.00 |
| $1,000.00 and up | $25.00 |
Click Sell your item, fill in a title, a description, a starting price and how long the auction should run.
Your item appears in its category right away (on this computer, anyway -- this is a parody, and your listing lives in a cookie).
Our house bidders are always on the prowl and may well bid on it. Track everything in My uBid.
The number in parentheses after a User ID is that member's feedback rating. As it grows, members earn a star:
 | Yellow star: 10 to 49 |
 | Green star: 50 to 99 |
 | Turquoise star: 100 to 499 |
 | Purple star: 500 to 999 |
 | Red star: 1,000 to 4,999 |
 | Gold shooting star: 5,000 and up (we think there are two of them) |
Check the seller's feedback before you bid. Ask questions. Pay with a money order or a check you can trace. If something goes
wrong, leave honest feedback so other members know. And remember: if a deal on a Furby looks too good to be true, it might be a Gurby.
Type one or two words: furby beats "talking owl toy thing." Every word must match.
Check completed auctions to see what things actually sell for.
10/22/99 -- Scheduled maintenance: uBid will be down Friday 1:00-3:00 a.m. PT while we feed the hamsters that power the servers.
10/15/99 -- We are Y2K ready! Our clocks have been tested all the way to 12/31/9999. After that, no promises.
10/01/99 -- New: the Going, Going, Gone page shows every auction ending in the next 24 hours.
uBid began in 1995 as a weekend project to sell one broken laser pointer. It sold. Today our members trade everything from
bean bag animals to backup generators. uBid is part of The 1999 Web, a parody: every item, member and bid
here is invented, and no money changes hands.
Demo accounts: beaniebaron / bidbid and y2kprepper / canned.
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