The number that determines your position is your listing's "effective score" — which, most of the time, is simply your lifetime total bid.
Why "effective" and not just "total"?
The distinction matters on categories where decay is active: older bids can lose a small percentage of weight over time relative to fresh activity, so a listing that keeps topping up stays more competitive than one that bid once and went quiet. Not every category runs decay — check the board itself to see whether standings are purely lifetime-total or activity-weighted.
What this means for strategy
A single large bid gets you in the door, but sustained, periodic top-ups are what actually defends a #1 spot long-term against a determined challenger.
Ready to climb the leaderboard?
Take the top spot →Inspired by outbid.lol