The winning bid only needs to be at least the minimum bid increment over the last item price, not the last bid to win the auction.
Consider this example auction that started at $5.00 with a minimum bid increment of $1.00, bidderA was out bid by $.02.
You can see how proxy bidding (Maximum bid) can help you get the edge in your auction.
Complete Bid History (All Bids)
Bidder Bid Amount High Bidder Item Price Time of bid
bidderA $15.00 bidderB $15.02 4/11/2006 7:44:46 AM
bidderB $15.02 bidderB $9.00 4/11/2006 6:28:54 AM
bidderA $8.00 bidderA $7.01 4/9/2006 11:56:11 PM
bidderB $6.01 bidderB $6.00 4/6/2006 8:30:12 PM
bidderA $5.00 bidderA $5.00 4/6/2006 6:56:07 PM
Last Updated: 7/18/2017