The step does not grow as the price grows. It is fixed for the whole auction, set when the item was created.
So a price moving in large leaps is not the increment getting bigger. It is one of two other things.
What the step actually is
Either the figure the seller chose, or — if they chose none — 5% of the starting price, with a floor of ₹10.
Note: of the starting price, not the current one. An item that opened at ₹500 steps in ₹25 whether the bidding is at ₹500 or ₹5,000. An item that opened at ₹20,000 steps in ₹1,000 from the first bid.
That is why two items at the same current price can move in completely different sized steps: they opened at different prices.
Cause one: somebody is jumping deliberately
Custom bid lets a bidder name any valid higher amount rather than taking the next step. Going to ₹2,000 when the next step is ₹1,050 is a real tactic — it says I am not leaving, and it sometimes ends the contest on the spot.
It also costs them more than they needed to pay if nobody was going to follow. When you see a large jump, somebody has decided the item is worth ending the argument over.
Cause two: two maximum bids meeting
This is the one that looks most like a glitch.
When two buyers have each set a ceiling, Metzee settles it between them there and then — exactly as they would by bidding against each other, one step at a time, instantly. From outside, the price appears to leap from ₹1,100 to ₹3,400 in a second.
Nothing is wrong. Two invisible numbers have just finished arguing, and the loser's ceiling is spent. What a maximum bid is
What this means for you
A big jump is information. It tells you somebody values the item well above where the bidding was — either enough to jump, or enough to have set a high ceiling.
Chasing it one step at a time against a maximum bid is how people pay more than they meant to: the ceiling answers instantly, every time, and never gets tired. If an item bids back immediately each time you touch it, you are not bidding against a person.
Decide your own number and let it stop you. Better still, set it as a maximum and let the app stop you.
When the step feels wrong for the item
A seller who opens a ₹30,000 piece at ₹500 has given it a ₹25 step, which makes for a long, slow auction. One who opens it at ₹20,000 has a ₹1,000 step. Both are legitimate choices, and the step you see is a consequence of the opening price rather than a judgement about the item.
More: is there a minimum bid, how auctions find a price, how to price for auction.
