The online auction with hard bid window is perfectly fine. Rationally, everyone bids their reserve price immediately at any time during the window. The current winning bid (just above the second bidder) is displayed so you can avoid the effort of bidding if your reserve is too low to matter.<p>I don&#x27;t really understand the concept of &quot;driving the price up&quot; in online auctions. It only seems to represent a flawed understanding of cause and effect (the current price causes the future price) which only makes sense irrationally with effects such as anchoring or post-hoc rationalization of purchases.<p>The price is whatever someone is willing to pay for it, if you lose a purchase by setting your reserve on the auction system to less than your true reserve - what you were willing to potentially pay or conversely, if you have won an auction for more than you would have liked - you have failed to act in your own best interest, there is not a middle ground between the two.