Have you ever messed up an auction bid?

Bidding on a lower end coin (it's what I do)...I meant to bid $12.51 and ended up bidding 1251.00...lol.. somehow - fat fingers I guess?
I had no idea at the time but was surprised to see a few minutes later that I was the high bidder at $15 - I checked and realized my error.. oops!!!

Won the coin at $19.00 (thankfully!!).. but the 30 minutes I had to wait for the auction close felt like a lifetime.. No harm, no foul in the end but things could have ended much differently! I was just praying that someone didn't REALLY want that coin..

Having a stiff drink right now.

I'll show the coin when I get it.. it is something I will always think of when I hold it in my hand..

Live and learn!! whew! This ended up being just a minor error obviously..
Anyone have anything like this happen or am I the only idiot??

 

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All's well. Laugh and learn.

 

I've done this before.... the times that it's happened to me is when I've planned on bidding late on a coin and then forgotten, catching the auction with only seconds left. A hastily thrown in $20.00 can become $200.00 too easily! Luckily I've never been burned and like you have gotten away with it, winning for $18.00 rather than $180.

 

Last year, I was bidding live in Heritage Auctions. The window to bid is a popup, but the screen wouldn't actuate and was frozen. I could hear the automated voice auctioneer, but couldn't see the lot. In my random clicks trying to get the screen buttons to actuate, I hit the bid button at the end of lot one. I present to you, the $352 accident:

I kept it.

 

hehehe.... >< o yeah... it happens to everyone who bids a lot at one time or another... now that's REAL excitement!..

 

i like that!

 

That looks like a nice Celtic imitation of a Philip II tet. An elegant horse and rider, I would have kept it too.

 

I had a similar experience with a European auction platform. I came away without being able to place a bid on the lot I was watching. At least you got a nice souvenir out of it!

 

that's what it is... and a very nice one!...

 

Yes.
Ancients: DANUBIAN BASIN. Imitating Philip II (ca. 3rd-2nd century BC). AR tetradrachm (12.22 gm).

 

I made many mistakes like that, ending up with a broken Japanese lacquer portfolio when I wanted a book that was a second earlier, or winning a book and because of the excitement, also the next one (900 bucks), luckily I was able to undo this. In a fast auction, I won a lot of 12 substandard Marcianopolis coins instead of the very nice one just before. And very, very often I stopped bidding too early, so that I just have to stick to the photo of that most attractive coin - see my avatar.

 

I've never bid the wrong amount, but a few years ago I ended up winning a coin in a live auction which I was accessing with my phone (dumb), using an account approved to bid even though I wasn't intending to bid on anything (dumber), and I accidentally hit the bid button while absently scrolling and watching TV at the same time (my dumb dial goes up to "11").

My mouth went dry when I saw what the coin was and how much I had won it for (~$700 after fees and shipping). My typical spend at the time was $50-$60 per coin, and I considered contacting the auction house to plead with them to let me off the hook. In the end, I couldn't figure out how to explain my utter doofusness to them without coming across like a uhm... utter doofus. I decided to just suck it up.


IONIA, Ephesos
AR Drachm. 4.17g, 17.8mm. IONIA, Ephesos, circa 202-162 BC, Ekatokles as magistrate. Kinns, The Attic Weight Drachms of Ephesos, NC 1999, S.86; SNG von Aulock 7826. O: Bee between E-Φ. R: Stag standing right, in front of palm tree, EKATOKΛHΣ to right.

 

Phew... thankfully you didn't have to pay much for that mistake, @Clavdivs!

Z-- perhaps an expensive mistake but it's a gorgeous coin.

I've won a couple of coins by accidental bidding. The first was a tolerable mistake because it wasn't a budget-buster and it wasn't expensive. I was on a Skype call while watching the Pecunem auction and waiting for my lot to come up. The coin of interest was coming up soon. My attention wandered for several lots and when it snapped back to the screen I saw the coin on the block was closing. I panicked thinking it was mine and clicked bid, apparently with a nanosecond to go. The coin left the screen and the next lot came up. I didn't even see what I had won but noticed the lot number of the next coin was still lower than the target coin. Oops. I had to go to the "closed lots" screen to even see what I'd won and for how much. Not a comfortable moment but at least it wasn't a four figure coin. It seems the coin is mocking my mistake, sticking its tongue out .


THRACE, Apollonia Pontika
Mid-late 4th century BCE
AR drachm, 10 mm, 3.2 gm
Obv: Facing gorgoneion
Rev: Upright anchor; A to left, crayfish to right
Ref: Topalov, Apollonia p. 348, 11

The second such mistake (similar circumstances) is not one I wanted to keep and it was sold as quickly as possible. I no longer Skype or talk on the phone while babysitting auctions.

 

I can understand your anxiety while waiting for the auction to conclude! I don't have a coin related experience but last year I placed an order online for 2—ten foot vinyl banners at $75 each. When I received the invoice via email, it said 22—ten foot vinyl banners totaling $1650. It took several emails and phone calls to correct the situation.

 

I had an auction house call me to make sure the bid I placed wasn't a mistake. It wasn't... sometimes you just have to be willing to bid 15x the estimate. And, I ended up winning it by only a couple bids.

 

Hey, at least that guarantees you get the coin no matter what!

 

I accidentally bid against myself on this coin (there were two on the lot, but I increased the price by $70 or so). The auction house waived my shipping fees in a show of goodwill. It was my first experience bidding with an auction house. I’ve gotten better.

This is my worst fear.

There was one time when an auctioneer’s (Noble) website was lagging, and I clicked the bid button when a coin it was at $300, and suddenly I bid $900. It sold for $1800 or so (whew...), but it was harrowing.

 

Yikes! And phew!

 

Not yet, but I did get really excited in a recent FSR auction and bid on four coins, winning them all. I assumed there was more competition than there actually was, so in the final minutes I was emailing Frank raising all of my bids, but since no one else was bidding at that time I got them for the second to last price I had bid, kudos to Frank for being fair and honest.

 

You are right there... I spent the initial couple of minutes after I realized what I had done speeding through the 5 stages: denial, anger, bargaining,depression and acceptance.. haha
My wife was in the same room watching TV and asked me what was wrong (probably concerned by the beads of cold sweat on my brow)... "nothing, dear"..
I suffered in silence until it was over and then after the fist pump I explained what happened. She just shook her head slightly and continued on...