With respect to being outbid... Suppose an item has an opening bid of $10. I'm prepared to pay $100, but I'm not going to be around when the sale occurs. So I bid $100; that is my absolute maximum. No other bidder can see this. My bid will appear as $10. Laddie bids $15. The computer system will automatically up my bid, I will have top bid. Laddie will be told he has been outbid. This will continue until my cap of $100 is reached. At that point laddie's higher bid will become top bid. This is how the system on iCollector works. It is not the auction house managing the bidding, it is iCollector, the computerized management system.
If you are getting outbid each time you try to place a bid, it means someone has established a maximum. You are going to have to find and exceed this level if you want to place a successful bid.
Covid and online bidding certainly changed the game. Most of the time in an auction hall you were competing with someone physically present. Now, you are competing at the national or international level. The online catalogues are read all over the world. There may be serious competition.