* There is a guard against the situation you mention. What name and amount did you put in?

Here is what I think happened:

There was an auto bid of a higher amount placed earlier by 'K'. You placed a bid successfully. Then 'K''s autobid kicked in and beat you.

* The widget does not update immediately. Your bid gets queued, and then executed. If another bid in the queue beats you then you get an email appropriately. Once your bid has been executed (in the background), the widget will update.