Roma Auction - Buyer's Remorse

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by gsimonel, Apr 16, 2021.

  1. gsimonel

    gsimonel Well-Known Member

    Well, not exactly buyer's remorse. More like imposter syndrome.

    Most of everything I bid on in the last Roma eAuction went for multiples of what I bid. But I did won FOUR! count'em, FOUR! lots of Greek bronzes, two from the William Stancomb collection. I don't think I've ever won this many lots in a single auction before.

    And, in the same spirit of "any club willing to accept me as a member is probably not worth joining," I'm thinking "any lots that I was able to win in this auction I probably spent way too much on."

    Maybe it's just because prices have seemed way out of whack recently, but I can't shake this feeling. Does anyone else ever feel this way? Hoping against hope that you will have the high bid in an auction, and then immediately thinking: "oh, no! I just spent much, much more on this than it's worth!"

    Is this just human nature, or do I have self-image issues?
     
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  3. Restitutor

    Restitutor Well-Known Member

    People make fun of Gen Z for FOMO but it’s real. This is why if prior to an auction starting (live) or a countdown auction nearing its close, if prices already look crazy high I just don’t even watch or participate in the finale. That way I won’t be tempted to make a rash bid in the heat of the moment.
     
  4. tibor

    tibor Supporter! Supporter

    In the recently finished Kunker 348 auction I won eight
    of the twelve I bid on. Luck was with me. Nothing on the
    horizon for the next couple of months.
     
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  5. seth77

    seth77 Well-Known Member

    If there are lots from Stancomb Collection I'm sure they must be worth at least what you paid for them once looked at individually.
     
  6. svessien

    svessien Senior Member

    I understand the feeling, and have thought to myself that it might be a good idea to take a break. But I seriously consider the coins I’ve bought to be good deals, although so many people describe the market as crazy.
    I think the prices are very high on Greek silver now. Late Roman gold and Byzantine gold seem more pricey than normal too. The more difficult Roman emperors get high prices. Greek bronzes, however, sell for starting bid in many cases. So I think you may well have gotten four good deals. I hope so. And congrats, hope you show them later.
     
  7. medoraman

    medoraman Well-Known Member

    I am kind of taking a break, but do have hopes for next week. A couple of items that rarely come up for sale are available, but I am afraid of what they will bring.

    I am kind of nervous about these price levels as well. I find myself, even though I am in a position to afford more, simply looking at previous purchases more and not stretching the budget.
     
    Restitutor likes this.
  8. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    I set rational parameters for how much I am willing to bid on a particular coin. I try keep my bids below the prices the fixed price dealers charge (m-a shops, vcoins, etc. )
     
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  9. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

    I won 3 coins and 2 lots. The coins cost WAY TOO MUCH as I forgot about exchange rate and buyers premium and expensive shipping. My wallet will never forgive me
     
  10. svessien

    svessien Senior Member

    Your wallet will probably (at least hopefully) be in balance in 2-3 months, and then you realize that you are 3 nice coins and two sweet lots richer than before. Happy for you, hotwheels!
    If I’m mistaken and you’re homeless next month, I’ve got a spare bedroom. Just don’t clean my coins! :)
     
  11. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

    Well now that you mention it, calculating it down by coin it’s only like $25 per, which i GUESS is alright :/
     
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  12. Mat

    Mat Ancient Coincoholic

    Prices for ancients have been crazy anymore. So far as I post this I have gotten twelve coins this year. Usually, I have amassed that much within two months into the new year.

    Comic books are insane too.

    As usual, when this happens, I fall into my other hobbies & collections.:rolleyes:
     
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  13. medoraman

    medoraman Well-Known Member

    You never know how it will work out. I got two group lots of greek bronzes a while ago at Stacks, Just got the coins from my sister a couple of weeks ago. I was most excited by a group of 79 from N. Africa and Asia. I paid like $20 per coin. The box has been a little underwhelming. Sure, there is a gVF Bar Kochba AE26 in there, and maybe 8 other Jewish coins from revolts, 8 Punic or Siculo Punic, but kind of meh for $20 average. However, the OTHER box I got of about 120 pieces for about $13 per coin just KEEPS giving goodies, tons of nice Sicilian pieces, even a Augustus and Agrippa Nemausus perfectly centered in VF. So, the box I THOUGHT I would be geeked about was underwhelming, but overall even versus my lowball, cheap standards, I did well.
     
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  14. Romancollector

    Romancollector Well-Known Member

    Don't feel bad @gsimonel ! I felt the same way with the coin I won in yesterday's auction. Usually, I'm not one to ever exceed my intended max bid, but yesterday I did! My initial reaction was "did I actually do that?". I believe that my willingness to bid higher was the result of not having any luck in Kunker or Roma XXI, but I'm still happy to have won the coin.
     
  15. Severus Alexander

    Severus Alexander find me at NumisForums

    I rarely feel buyer's remorse because I use the acsearch.info service in a way that forces me to be strict. You can order searches by increasing hammer price, and I make sure my searches include all the coins that would count as "equivalent" for my purposes. Then:

    1) I might want the coin "only if it is a bargain," in which case my max bid is 10-20% less than the lowest price for an equivalent coin in the last few years. (How many years will depend a bit on how often they come up.)

    2) Or the coin might be a higher priority, in which case my max will be maybe 10-20% above the very lowest on record (again within the last few years) - making it still among the cheapest sold recently.

    3) Or the coin might be a must-have, in which case my max might reach the mid-range of past sale prices.

    Recently I've been bidding only if the auction includes some coins in categories (2) or (3). Category (1) coins are just ride-alongs.

    My only buyer's remorse is when I somehow screw up the searches and miss a bunch of cheap coins that would count as equivalent for me. But that happens very, very rarely!
     
  16. Cucumbor

    Cucumbor Well-Known Member

    I know that feeling : me ? winning that bid ? I must have missed something everybody else has seen and I didn't (kind of "I know less than them" complex)

    And of course I think I've paid waaaaay too much for it

    But, when I get it in hand I forget immediately what I paid for it and the pleasure overpasses completely the frustration of the spending

    I sometimes have a little exercise : I look at my former bids that I didn't win in completed auctions. Most of the time, my feeling when doing this is : "wow ! that was one kind of a coin ! I should have bid more on it !"

    Something chemical in my brain I guess :D

    Q
     
  17. medoraman

    medoraman Well-Known Member

    Yeah, there is an old saying in coin collecting, you forget the pain of getting it if you love the coin, (something like that). I agree I regret not betting higher after the fact rather than regret bidding what I did, yet I think we are weird animals. Most collectors value coins over money, that is why I just hoard. Trading a perfectly good coin for something like "money" just feels wrong.

    A rather depressing thought is the nature of all auctions is you were willing to pay more than EVERYONE ELSE participating. One could argue every auction purchase is overpaying, since no one else would pay what you did.

    Eh, I like my pretty little shinies and what they teach me. I only blow "play money" on them, money for a hobby to entertain myself. I would stress more if I did the unthinkable and bet my retirement savings on coins. If you are only ever "wasting" your entertainment money, there is no right or wrong decision. That is what lets me sleep at night. :)
     
  18. Egry

    Egry Well-Known Member

    I’m in two minds lately, with the prices realized at auctions lately I’m almost feeling like I need to take a bit of a break. Unfortunately the ‘want’ factor is too strong in me and I tend to bid amounts way to high for what I think it should be worth.

    But I agree with @svessien, the wallet tends to refill itself after a while and all you really can recall is the new amazing coins added to your collection. Oh what a cycle.
     
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  19. robinjojo

    robinjojo Well-Known Member

    I think the issue fundamentally is what you think the coin is worth to you. Much of the high bidding, in my opinion, is driven by bidders who have high priorities on specific coins. Now, add to that mix collectors/investors with lots of cash, and blast off!

    Many coins do hammer at or below their estimates, for a variety of reasons. However, some coins receive few or no bids because the vast majority of bidders do not recognize the coins' attributes or rarity. Yes, bronze coinage generally did not fare as well as silver or gold coinage, and I suppose that's just human nature, to a certain extent, drawn to "all that glitters".

    So, putting aside the wacko auction scene, are you happy with the lots that you acquired?

    I happy with the coins that I have acquired, but I must say that the pandemic and the state of the world has certainly tempered that happiness for me.
     
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  20. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

    When you put it that way, yes I’m happy with the singles I won. They were expensive, at $80 or so each, but they’re each pretty, rare, and will fit right in. The other lots (10 provincials and 5 denarii) are much less expensive per coin, but also probably worse in quality. I guess I’ll find out
     
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  21. Restitutor

    Restitutor Well-Known Member

    I think the craziness constantly referenced though is because people are paying insane prices for pretty common coins. It’s not as if lamentation is occurring because an EID MAR is going for 50% more today than yesterday. Rather it seems even the most common Denarius is significantly more than a year ago despite so many existing.
     
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