How did auctions handle this before Ebay? I imagine they had various rules for how to handle buyers flaking out. The "bid-up" price reflects an automatic bid

How did auctions handle this before Ebay? I imagine they had various rules for how to handle buyers flaking out. The "bid-up" price reflects an automatic bid that you set in advance: you allowed the system to bid on your behalf, up to a specified amount. The other seller outbid your maximum bid, and then disappeared, but that bid was still your maximum bid. Of course, it seems unfair because if that bad buyer had never bid in the first place, the final price might have been much lower. Honestly, I don't know what should be normal and proper here, which is why I asked the first question. Ebay's auction rules mostly follow pre-existing norms for auctions, but not entirely.