You lose the bid, you lose the tokens. That's how the system works.
Game Guide
3.4. Transfers and Auctions
You can participate in an auction either by placing a 'bid' or 'buy now' offer. Each works slightly differently. A 'bid' does not guarantee winning the auction and allows other managers to place rival bids. While it costs less tokens, it costs more cash. A 'buy now' offer by contrast guarantees that you will immediately win the auction and costs more tokens but significantly less cash than a bid. When any manager places a 'bid' they automatically and immediately remove the ability for any manager viewing the auction to make a 'buy now' offer and force the auction to bidding mode.
Each auction is conducted in rounds:
Initial Round - the auction starts here, and this is the only stage when a 'buy now' offer can be made. If no 'buy now' offer is placed, then the process for the upcoming rounds will be determined by how many bids are placed. If only one bidder is present in the initial round, then that manager will win the auction as soon as the initial round ends. If multiple bidders are present then the auction will proceed to the knockout rounds.
Knockout rounds - after the initial round, if multiple bidders are present then knockout rounds will be used to determine the winner of the auction. If multiple bidders are present in any given knockout round then the auction will proceed to another knockout round until all bidders but one have stopped bidding. If no new bids are placed in a knockout round at all, then the last bid placed is deemed the winner.
Guest
Community Manager