It has come to my attention that the Classifieds DO NOT record all of the bids made in the Bid History table. I believe that they should and here is why:
What about an option that admins could turn on (off by default) to record
all valid bids and autobids? For example right now my auction is showing 4
bids, but maybe there were really 7 or 10, it isn't like I had 200 or
something.
I would gladly turn that option on so that any time any
logged-in user made a bid which was higher than the current high bid, it was
recorded, even if it is immediately surpassed by someone else's auto-bid.
It should be as simple as whenever a bid is placed the following happens:
1) system checks to see if the bid being placed is higher than the current
bid price - if not dump out, if it is, then step 2
2) bid being placed is higher than the current high bid (but maybe not as
high as someone else's max) - bid gets recorded in the bid history table.
3) If bid is the new high bid it stands, if not, then the autobid system
bids up another member until they are higher than this bid, when the autobid
becomes the new high bid, it is recorded in the history table.
That's it really. Today the system is doing 1 and 3 I think, but not #2.
Let's take it through an example.
Person A is the high bidder currently at $50, but has a max set to $100.
Person B comes along and bids $55
- System should record the $55 bid (if admin option is turned on), it is a
valid bid at this point, higher than the current high.
- System looks at Person A's max and see's $100 so it autobids a new high
bid of $56 (or whatever the increment is) to make Person A the high bidder
again - system records this bid.
Now Person B sees that they were auto outbid by Person A, they have a
choice, either stop bidding, or enter in a new bid.
If they enter in a new bid, say $60, then that bid should be recorded (again
if admin option I am proposing is turned on).
System again outbids at $61 for Person A - again also recorded.
Person B tries once more at $90, bid is recorded, but system outbids to $91
for Person A.
In a single item auction Person A wins at $91, person B loses at $90
assuming no more bids.
In a multi-item auction Person A wins at $91 but person B might be the
winner of the second item at $90, etc. on down the list.
Recording all bids accomplishes 2 things
1) PROOF to person A why their final price was $91 and not $50 the last
amount they bid. If Person A cannot see that someone else actually bid $55,
then $60 then $90, Person A complains, argues that someone was just driving
up the price or the system made an ERROR and they should get the item for
$50 because as the admin without the list I cannot prove squat!
2) Allows for multiple items in a single auction to be awarded to the
highest bidders.
Please implement this Chuck, it would be a valueable additon to the auction
capability and honestly is nothing more than a single table update whenever
a valid bid is placed.