Most people bid on a phone, and the problems are physical rather than mysterious.
1. Tap the amount the app offers
It is the next valid bid, worked out for you. A number you type from memory may already be stale, because your screen is always a moment behind the server.
This is the single biggest cause of "my bid did not go through". My bid did not go through
2. Set a maximum instead of watching
Enter the most you will pay and the app bids in steps up to it. You can put the phone down.
It only goes up — it has already bid for you — and it is not available on sudden-death items.
3. Keep it plugged in
A low battery throttles the radio before anything else, and the stream is the first thing to suffer. Charging, on a stand, is the whole fix.
4. Mobile data is often steadier than contested wifi
Steadiness matters more than speed: a stable 2 Mbps watches a show and an unstable 20 stutters. If it is rough, switch network — that is the fastest test there is. How fast does my internet need to be?
5. You can bid even when the video is bad
Bidding is tiny — a few bytes to the server, nothing like the video coming back. So a stuttering picture is not a reason to give up on an item you have already decided about.
And if you drop out entirely, your bid stands. If I leave the show, do I lose my bid?
6. Turn notifications on before the show, not after
A win you never saw is the saddest way to collect a strike — and while there is a grace allowance for exactly that, it runs out. What is an unpaid win?
Two things that are not your phone's fault
The clock going back out. A bid in the last ten seconds extends it, for everyone. The last ten seconds
Somebody's maximum outbidding you instantly. Their ceiling was set earlier; nothing beat your reflexes.
If you are watching on one device and bidding on another
Fine, and a good arrangement — show on a tablet, bid on the phone in your hand. Same account, same auction, nothing breaks. Does Metzee work on a tablet?
Before a show you care about
Have a payment method that works. The window after a win is 30 minutes, and a card you have to go and find is how that disappears. My payment failed
More: how bidding works, how to not get carried away, watching a show without burning your data.