When you lose an auction lot by one notch … grrrr.

Been happening to me a lot lately. I’ll do a final bid a few hours before closing. And my bid is a bit higher than recent sales of the same coin in the same grade and is the current high bid. Then in the live bidding, someone else wins it by going one notch (sometimes just a cut bid … ½ notch) above mine. I always wonder if I would have won if I had gone one more notch in my final bid. But maybe the winner would have been willing to go even higher than that. No way to really know, but it’s frustrating.

I don’t participate in live bidding. Learned the hard way it’s too easy to overpay in live bidding.

I’m hesitant to go way beyond recent prices because the current run-up in prices may be just a spike, and prices may go down in a year or so. Just venting.

Cal

 

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I hate auctions. I bid in a political items auctions, and I was the underbidder on all the lots that I didn’t get.

I tried to buy a Julius Caesar denarius in a Heritage Auction that closed on Thursday. I put in one bid that was higher than what similar pieces had brought recently. I thought that number was a bit high. Then my wife said,. “Why don’t you more?” I bid it up to the next notch. I still got beat by one bid. I thought that I was overpaying. The guy who beat me is REALLY over paying.

I have to confess that I did get one bargain out of a recent Heritage auction only because they stuck the only piece I wanted in with a lot with four other pieces. I already had four of the five pieces, but the last one was something special. I bid strong and ended up getting the whole thing for less than I would have paid for the one piece. That is very much the exception. Usually I think I am over paying in auctions most of time.

I prefer buying coins, medals and tokens via “private treaty.” At least I will get the item and won’t be run up by a “Yahoo” who does not care how much they pay. In the very old days, rich guys used to bid “buy” in auctions. The trouble is what is the selling price if two guys bid “buy?” Now they just bid live and take some items to moon.. That’s great if you happen to be the consigner of the item.

 

I used to do a lot of 'Heritage' years ago but the last item I bought there was so overpriced (due to buyers premium, tax and shipping) I've now reclused myself from bidding.

 

Recently saw an item on fleaBay go for what I consider to be 12x it's reasonable price. Interesting series of bids on this one in the last minute or two. I'm convinced it had to be a robo-bid war with a guy who put in a nuclear high bid.

Z


https://www.ebay.com/itm/3855582625...=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

To win an auction you must be the person who wanted to pay more than anyone else.

 

Hate it when that happens. Better not to get it than get it by overpaying.

 

And that's why I almost never participate in auctions. I'm a cheapskate.

 

That's why I don't bid in Heritage auctions anymore. For the price range of most of the items I've bid on the added costs could be as much as 30%.

 

It may seem like you are one notch below, but there is no way of knowing how high the winner’s Max bid was. It may have been one increment higher, but it may also have been several increments above his winning bid.

 

With the auto bid apps, even if you watched the auction to the last second and bid, but lost, it was to a computer program, not a live bidder. Just do your due diligence and bid what you are willing to pay, then wait and hope you bid high enough.

 

Many putting in nuclear bids. Just shift to item can buy right.

 

This will actually happen more often if there are fewer bidders. If you bid reasonably and one other person outbids you, you will always be the underbidder and one bid away from winning. Of course, you have no idea how big that one bid has to be…

 

I've won eBay listing by $0.01 over the previous high bidder and I know how it feels to bid more than expected but still not come close.
Some people have too much bloody Money

I was at a local in person recent estate sale run by a company that's been around for 40 years.
I was outbid on six items, five of the six items the auction company got with me after the sale and asked if I wanted the item at my bid price.
Seems the estate auction company still has shill bidders in the audience.
I asked How Ethical that practice was and didn't get an answer.
There was some mention of a set reserve price point but this is supposed to be a No Reserve estate auction.
One of the workers who I've known for years said it's sorta a gray area and every auction company does it they just hide it better.

 

And in very rare instances, the fellow who might have outbid you forgets to bid. I've forgotten to bid in a couple of auctions after I noted the lots of interest.

I have also not gotten a lot when the auctioneer failed to excise my bid back in the days before computers. One time the winner was David Bowers. When he found out what happened, he sold the lot to me for what he paid. That was very classy. I still have it.

 

I have had this happen a lot. People bid the last 10 seconds and they win with one increment over what my max bid was. My answer is buy it by it now.

 

I’ve never bid on a coin at eBay. The few I’ve bought there were BIN, usually after negotiating with the seller. My problem with being beaten by one notch is with major auction companies. In the recent Heritage auctions, I bid on 3 coins, all bids on the high side of recent auction sales. In every case, I was the high bid going into the live auction and 2 notches or more above the previous high bid. And in every case, I lost by one notch. I should probably try going for a record price plus one notch if I really want the coin.

Cal

 

Losing by one increment (or less on a venue like eBay where it can be as low as one cent) is certainly frustrating. I’ve seen my fair share of auctions that have gone for what looks like moon money. I’ve also seen some that looked like moon money but were actually a reflection of where the market is.

Generic coins you can avoid getting in bidding wars (since another should show up for sale soon enough). Unique, scarce, and eye appealing coins are another story though. Those might not show up again. You have to carefully evaluate them and decide if an extra increment or two is worthwhile even if it seems like overpaying.

 

I refuse to bid in eBay auctions because of the “one cent rule” and snipping system. Life is too short to mess with that.

 

I can understand the feeling but you are cutting off a large venue. I've been on both sides of the few cents equation (winning and losing the auction). If I lose, I just chalk it up to it not being meant for me to get that coin-if I had really wanted it, I would have bid more and not let it come down to a situation where cents make the difference.

 

I HATE eBay because of that. I want this hobby to be fun. EBay is THE PITS because of that. Why mess with a venue that makes your life miserable? To hell with eBay. There is a dealer, I greatly admire, who has made eBay the center of his business model. I have told him, I will only buy from him at shows. I spent thousands of dollars with him at a national show, but I will not spend one dime with him on eBay.