Bid Retraction

Overview

Bid retraction allows a bidder to withdraw their bid from an auction. This feature is controlled by the site admin and is subject to restrictions — it is not available on all auctions or at all times.

When enabled, bid retraction gives buyers a way to back out of a bid they placed in error or no longer wish to honour, provided the auction still has enough time remaining.

Who Can Retract

Only the highest bidder can retract their bid. If you are outbid, you cannot retract — your bid is no longer the leading one, so there is nothing to withdraw.

Additionally, retraction is only available when the auction has more time remaining than the retraction limit set by the admin. For example, if the limit is 12 hours, you cannot retract your bid when fewer than 12 hours remain on the auction.

Bid retraction is a privilege, not a right. Abuse of this feature (e.g. repeatedly bidding and retracting) may result in account restrictions at the discretion of the site admin.

How to Retract a Bid

First, place a bid on an auction as normal. Enter your amount and click Place Bid.

PHP Pro Bid — Listing page showing Place Bid field with bid amount entered

A confirmation popup appears. Review the details and click Place Bid to confirm.

Once confirmed, a success message shows your bid has been posted and you are the highest bidder. The proxy bid amount is also shown.

PHP Pro Bid — Bid posted successfully message showing highest bidder status

To retract your bid, go to Members Area → Buying → Current Bids. Find the auction where you are the highest bidder and click Retract.

PHP Pro Bid — Current Bids page showing bid details, High Bid status, proxy bid amount, and Retract button

A confirmation popup asks you to confirm the retraction.

After confirming, a success message confirms the bid has been retracted. The next highest bidder becomes the new leader and the auction continues.

PHP Pro Bid — Bid retracted successfully message

Example

Consider an auction with a 12-hour retraction limit:

Step	Action	High Bidder
1	Buyer A bids £50	Buyer A
2	Buyer B bids £52	Buyer B
3	Buyer B retracts their bid (more than 12 hours remain)	Buyer A
4	Buyer A is now the highest bidder and can also retract if desired	Buyer A

Admin Settings

Bid retraction is configured from Admin → Listings → Settings → Auctions, under the Bid Retraction heading.

PHP Pro Bid — Admin auction settings showing Bid Retraction toggle and retraction time limit

Enable Feature — check to allow bidders to retract bids from auctions. Only the highest bidder is allowed to retract.
Bid Retraction Limit — the minimum time (in hours) that must remain on an auction for retraction to be available. For example, setting this to 12 means bids can only be retracted when the auction has more than 12 hours left.

Setting a higher retraction limit (e.g. 24–48 hours) protects sellers from last-minute retractions while still giving buyers a reasonable window to correct mistakes.