I set my bid ahead of time on this one and closed out the page. I check back today and found it amusing that someone set the perfect bid. I was leading at 34.50, so the person did not know what my max bid was, they just happened to guess very well. I'm not upset, I actually find this amusing! If I really wanted the coin, I would have bid higher (but I already have a Moldova coin for my set, so that is why I set a fairly low max). Here is my coin:
I went through a recent bout of disappointing bid results on the last few three cent nickels I need to complete my set. I am far too busy to do the bidding wars properly so like yourself, I set my max bid and go an about life. In both cases I lost by just a few dollars over my max. Ahhh well.... Life goes on even though the empty holes in my Dansco make me just about crazy.
When you bid on a large enough number of auctions, results like this are bound to happen. I've been lucky in the other direction too (no wins by 1 cent but definitely some well below a full increment). And I actually did wait until the end on another auction (which ended earlier) but someone out-sniped me on that one by a full increment (a pricier coin that I bid strongly on). My strategy is to try and bid at the end on coins I really want (when I have time) and to just set my max ahead of time on the ones that I like but aren't that "important" to my collection. Both methods have worked on occasion. In the end though, it's often a matter of how much others are willing to spend. So if someone else values the coin more, they will win it.
Both those Modova coins are really attractive. On the second coin, is the animal the "Lutra?" What animal is that, something like an otter? Someone asked me once how to win coin auctions and I told him "Bid more than everyone else." Trite answer but it underscores what many people are really asking: "How can I win auctions while still getting a really low price?" And there is no real answer to that except to bid a lot and hope that probability will let you win a few. One reason why I like live auctions, even if they occur on the Internet, is that each auction is not time-limited. The bidding continues until it stops. You always know exactly where you and every other bidder are situated. For those time-limited auctions, one advantage to being retired is that time can be devoted to following the auction and even sniping at the end. For GC and Heritage, almost all auctions occur at night so most people can follow them, unless they're working the second shift. Last night, I won both auctions I was bidding on by sniping within the last two minutes. I won both at much less than my secret maximum bid and right around Greysheet including BP and S&H because the underbidders had put in secret maximums that were too low and then didn't follow the bidding.
Thanks! Yes the animal is an otter (Eurasian otter/European otter or "Lutra lutra"). And you are perfectly correct in that the way to win is to bid the most! There is some evidence that waiting until the end helps (because others can't "nibble" at your bid ahead of time). However, I've ran into a few scenarios where bidding early helped too. For gold/platinum bullion coins, reaching the right amount before the next increment helps (as others are less likely to bid another $50 over spot). Then there have been times when the internet went out (so bidding early meant I had a chance vs not bidding at all). There have also been a few times when the auction website crashes or temporarily becomes unresponsive (in that case no one else can bid unless the company restarts the auction).
This is Ebay? Strange, I've done this type of thing before (enter a bid that is unknowingly, slightly above the highest bidder), and I've gotten a message saying something like, "You must enter a minimum bid increment above the highest bidder". Of course, I only enter my bids within the last 5 seconds (because I hate shill bidding), so it ends up costing me the lot. It'd go like this: 1. Item is at $125 with 5 seconds to go 2. I enter a bid for $156.76 3. I get a message like mentioned above 4. Final sale price on the item is $156, which isn't me I'm guessing that maybe another bid pushed the winning bid to $156 right before my bid went through? Which brings the "minimum increment" into play? Who knows?
My example is not eBay (it is Great Collections). As far as your example, it is like you and @-jeffB said, you and someone else put in similar bids at the end and the other person was slightly earlier. If you were earlier, it would have accepted your bid since it was well above the minimum next increment.
It's a percentage (some places use 10%, GC has 12.5%, Legend has 17.5%, Stacks/Heritage have 20%) above your bid. Just keep that in mind when bidding and you will be fine (the issue is when some forget and bid like there is no buyer's premium).
GC is 12.5% if you pay with a credit card. If you pay with a paper check or with echeck it is 10%. Heritage charges an additional 2.5% over their 20% BP if you pay with a credit card. I went echeck with GC and Heritage and it has saved me a bunch of money. The process was supereasy with both firms. You just have to get over your unease with giving them access to your checking account. So far-about a year- I've had zero problems. But if you're giving your utility company, insurance company, internet/cable/phone company access to your credit card or checking account, it's about the same thing. BUT, I would never grant such access to any entity that wasn't of the strongest caliber. As to the notion of a Buyer's Premium, that has been standard for decades, maybe longer. As is a seller's premium. These are well-understood and well-explained in the Ts & Cs of the auction campanies. As mentioned by @ddddd, you just have to take thse fees into account when you're bidding.
Yes some have both; some have one. GC is mixed. If the item sells for over 1,000 there is no seller's fee (only the buyer's fee).
