In a world first, eBay Australia has implemented a so-called ‘soft close’ to its bidding. The new format, in which a bid placed in the final minute of a sale resets the clock for another 60 seconds until the bidding ends, replaces the ‘hard close’ in which bids could only be registered until the clock counted down to zero and led to so-called ‘sniping’.
A press release to Australian eBay users said: ‘We’re rolling our out ‘extended bidding’ to help create fairer auctions and better outcomes for buyers and sellers. Extended bidding keeps the final moments of an auction open while bidding is active, creating a clear and confident close for both buyers and sellers. If someone places a bid in the final minute of the auction, we’ll automatically extend the auction by a short period. This gives other interested buyers time to respond… [the result] is a fairer auction where the winning bid better reflects what an item is worth.’
After testing the new system in trading card categories last year it has been implemented across all categories on the Australian platform, but not everyone is happy about it. Online commentators see the new system as likely to drag out the end of the auction and encourage bidders to make smaller incremental bids. ‘People want to bid on an item that has a known end date, not bid and bid and rebid. Cancellations will sky rocket,’ says one user.
The percentage of sales on eBay from auctions is estimated at 12-15%, with ‘buy it now’ sales dominating the marketplace. In October 2024 eBay UK made selling free for private sellers, and in February 2025 it introduced a buyer’s premium on sales from private vendors.
Official announcements have not yet appeared in the US, UK, Canada or Germany for the ‘soft closing’, although it’s likely that Australia is only the first market in a global rollout.
