Bidding at Steam Auction

Yes you did miss something. You didn't outbid him, meaning you didn't beat his highest offer.

Offline means, not connected to Steam App, you don't need to be connected to Steam App to be able to use your profile.

If it says 1000 gems and you bid 1200 and then it instantly bids up to like 1300, then the other person has entered a MAX gem that is higher than yours... Like he said "1500 gems" and then valve said "ok, current highest bid is at 900, so we will put 1000 as your bid" Then you come and say "1200gems" then systems says "Oh, that other guy said 1500 gems, so we will increase to 1300 gems". Then you say "1400gems" and then system says "Oh, the other guy said 1500gems, so we will bid that automatically"

what game are you bidding for?

its a lot better to sell you unwanted things on the inventory in the steam market and just buy the game you wanted...

unless you are aiming for the badge...

Even though you got your bidding answer. Offline doesn't mean anything. Right now I am logged into my account in browser and in the client but my profile says I've been offline 12hrs because i always sign on to steam to show me as offline. The option is available in the friends tab.