A straight bid is a one-time amount, that represents the price you are committing to bid. The price that is entered as a straight bid can be any amount that is equal to, or greater than the current amount plus the minimum increment.
This amount will become the new current bid amount of the item (i.e. the item is $100. A straight bid is placed at $200. The item price is now $200).
If there is a maximum bid on the item, the greater of the straight bid and maximum bid will be the highest bid amount.
If a straight bid and a maximum bid are placed at the same value, the bid that is placed earlier will become the winning bid.

This system offers a convenient bidding system option, so you don't have to continuously login to re-bid. When you place a maximum bid, you are entering the highest price you are willing to pay for an item. Your maximum bid is kept confidential until it is exceeded by another bidder.
When a maximum bid is placed, the system will place bids on your behalf at the bid increment amount above the current high bid. The system will bid by the increment to ensure you remain the highest bidder or to meet the reserve price (if applicable), up to your maximum bid amount.
If and only if duplicate maximum bids are entered, the customer who entered the maximum bid first will get priority and will be the winning bidder.
If another bidder places a higher bid above your maximum bid, you will be emailed to login and place another bid.

The Auto Bid Extend feature ensures that bidders will always have a chance to challenge bids placed in the final seconds of an auction. When indicated on a listing page, if a bid is placed during the last 5 minutes of an auction, the auction will automatically extend for an additional 5 minutes from the time of the latest bid. The auction will close once all bidding activity has stopped for a period of 5 minutes.