I was looking to buy fridge/freezer from an auction. This particular auction was supposed to finish at 7pm today and it's clearly stated that it's unreserved auction as per this link https://auctions.hilcoapac.com/auctions/catalog/id/823/Unres…
I noticed most of the items had same bidding amount where all the prices went higher by same amount at the same time. I placed a bid on freezer just 5 sec before auction's end time and it confirmed that I was successful highest bidder, however I didn't win because the system increased the price by $5 and also the counter increased by 10min. For last 30 min, they are increasing the bidding and counter. The item was eventually sold at 155.
See some examples below:
Price is $145 and counter shows 4min 5 sec https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/82858/84135/1604310716…
Price is $150 and counter is showing over 8min https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/82858/84136/1604310716…
Can their dodgy practice be flagged with any regulatory body?
I don't think this is illegal. It is how allbids.com.au works - any bid increases the time remaining by a few minutes, if it occurs near the end of the auction. It can go forever if people keep bidding.