Bid for Simbound licenses. Pay what you offer.
- Licenses in pool
- 75
- Bidding from
- €5.00
- Closes in
- —
Place your bid
10–40 licenses, from €5.00 each. Takes 30 seconds.
Bids placed this month
- Active bids
- 0
- Licenses requested
- 0
- Top bid
- —
- Demand vs pool
- —
- Loading the board…
Bidders are anonymised — only the amount, the number of licenses and the timestamp are public. Projected win applies the allocation rules below to the board as it stands right now; it changes with every new bid until the auction closes.
Where do I stand?
Already bid this month? Enter the same email to see your position and projected allocation.
Four steps, one month
The board is public from the first bid to the last, so you always know what it takes to win.
Place your bid
Pick between 10 and 40 licenses and name your price per license — at least €5.00. The total is calculated as you type.
Confirm by email
Click the link we send you. Your bid joins the live board the second you do — anonymously, with its timestamp.
Watch and improve
You can see every competing bid, so you know exactly where you stand. Up to 2 bids per month are allowed; the highest one counts.
Results on the 1st
At the close we run the allocation, email every bidder their result and the amount due, and open a fresh pool for the next month.
Bid far above the field and you get everything you asked for
Bidders are ranked by price per license, highest first. Each rank in turn takes a slice of what is left in the pool. How big that slice is depends on one number: the gap between your bid and the bid right below you.
You are decisively ahead of the next bidder, so you receive 100% of the licenses you requested (or whatever is left of the pool, if less). Only then does the next rank get its turn.
Bids are effectively tied, so the remaining pool is split proportionally to what each bidder asked for — nobody gets squeezed out for winning by a cent.
gap = (bid[i] − bid[i+1]) / bid[i+1] // last rank: gap = threshold
t = min(gap / 20%, 1) // 0 = tied, 1 = decisively ahead
fair = pool_left × request[i] / Σ request[i..n] // proportional share
greedy = min(request[i], pool_left) // everything asked for
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
win[i] = round( fair + t × (greedy − fair) ) // capped at request[i]
capped so win[i]/request[i] ≤ win[i−1]/request[i−1]
That last cap is the fairness guarantee: you can never be better served, proportionally, than someone who outbid you. Ties are broken by timestamp — the earlier bid ranks higher. Allocations below 5 licenses are set to zero and cascade down, so nobody receives an unusable handful. Any licenses still unallocated after the pass are handed back out top-down to bidders who did not get their full request. You always pay your own bid, so lower ranks pay a lower price per license than the top of the board.
| Rank | Bid | Gap to next | Requested | Wins | Pays |
|---|
Everything that governs this month's pool
Set before bidding opens and unchanged until the auction closes. Simbound publishes the pool size here at the start of every month.
- Auction period — one calendar month. The board resets on the 1st and closes on the last day at 23:59 UTC.
- Pool size — 75 licenses this month. Simbound sets it between 50 and 100 each month.
- Minimum bid — €5.00 per license. Anything below is rejected.
- Bid size — between 10 and 40 licenses per bid.
- Bids per person — up to 2 per email address per month. Only the highest confirmed bid is ranked, so a second bid replaces the first when it is higher.
- Validation — a bid counts only after the emailed confirmation link is clicked. Unconfirmed bids never reach the board.
- LinkedIn bonus — a verified share adds 10% to your bid for ranking only. The price you pay is unchanged.
- Price paid — pay-your-bid: every winner pays exactly what they bid, times the licenses actually received.
- Payment — nothing is taken when you bid. Winners are invoiced after the close, for won licenses only.
- Results — every bidder gets an email at the close: licenses won, amount due or released, and an invitation to the next round.
Questions
before you bid
Anything else, and the team answers within one working day.
When does the auction close?
Every auction runs for one calendar month and closes on the last day of the month at 23:59 UTC. Allocations and result emails go out within 24 hours, and a fresh pool opens on the 1st.
How many bids can I place?
You can place up to 2 bids per month with the same email address. Only your highest confirmed bid is ranked and allocated — a second bid is effectively an update of the first, so you can raise your offer if the board moves against you.
Why do I have to confirm by email?
A bid only becomes active after you click the confirmation link we email you. That keeps the board free of fake bids and makes sure we can reach you with the result at the end of the month.
I already have a Simbound account — do I need a new one?
No. If the email you bid with already belongs to a Simbound account, the bid is attached to that account automatically. If it does not, the confirmation email also lets you open an account (student or instructor) so any licenses you win can be delivered instantly.
How does the LinkedIn bonus work?
Share the auction on LinkedIn and paste the post URL with your bid. After we verify the post, your bid is ranked as if it were 10% higher. The bonus only affects your position in the ranking — you never pay the bonus, you pay your original bid.
When am I charged?
Nothing is charged when you bid. At the end of the month you are invoiced only for the licenses you actually won, at the price you bid. If you win nothing, you pay nothing.
What if I win fewer licenses than I asked for?
You pay only for the licenses you actually receive, at your own bid price. Allocations never go below 5 licenses — if the maths would give you less than that, the licenses cascade to the next bidder instead and you pay nothing.
Are other bidders able to see who I am?
No. The live board shows only an anonymous reference, the amount bid per license, the number of licenses requested and the timestamp. Your email is never displayed.
The board is open. Name your price.
Bidding starts at €5.00 per license and closes at the end of the month. It takes 30 seconds to enter.