Can someone tell me how in the heck you win an auction there? Most of the auctions are for grades I can not afford, but the last 5/6 auctions I have bid on - I lost. I mean I bid more than recent auctions were closing at - but I did not want to get way out of line. Another thing - out of the 4/5 auctions I won they were always at the max. Now here is the real question - when they go to the floor bidding do they start with the current internet bidding price? And then bid up to the internet bidders price - or what? And what is the invitation only gallery sale? I tried looking throught the faq's but could not find answers.
Winning an auction with online/absentee bids can be rough. I've tried a few lots with absentee bids, and won one coin. I've attended one live auction, and while I didn't win anything (I didn't bid) I felt a lot more confident about my ability to place winning bids on the kinds of coin I was interested in. If you are really interested in winning auction lots, my advice is to find a friendly dealer that is attending to evaluate the coins and place bids for you. Depending on your specialty, I might be able to recommend one if you're interested. Good luck. Fish
I put in bids on the low end of what is fair and do not win often, but now and then I hit it (nd that is what keeps me coming back).
Ditto on what Danr says, I bid on a number of lots every month, fully expecting to lose most of them. But there is enough new stuff coming up for auction every week that I stay interested. I've been quite happy with what I've won. And the bidding experience is much more relaxed than eBay, generally the price levels off hours before closing, ie. it doesn't double in the last 20 seconds.
OK, you lost, but by how much is the question ? If you were close then there is nothing you could or should change. Floor bidders can always add a few dollars to get the winning bid. And 99 out of a hundred times they will be. Most Heritage bidders do the same thing you do - they look at past results and bid the max or close to it if they want the coin. They know they will not get it otherwise. That is why you will often hear collectors say that they overpaid but they really wanted the coin. What they are really saying though is that they wanted it right now, that they weren't willing to have patience and wait for another example to come along at the right price. Yes, they start floor bidding just above the current highest bid and bids go up from there. Just what it sounds like. They send out invitations to certain collectors and dealers, and only them, to come and bid at a private live auction.
Thanks for all the info. Now the quote is something I have never thought about. The problem is that some of the coins I would like to have come up so seldom at the grade that I want - okay to qualify that, something I can afford. I think maybe I do need to show some patience. Now one of the coins I won the 1879(PR63 3 since 2005) shield nickels they were the first I had seen at that low a grade. I actually did not do to bad on that one or the 1880 PR65. The others were just common date coins with reasonable prices. And maybe that is the problem - most of the coins I am looking at on heritage are key(or semi key) dates. The tougher auctions to win. I have never really thought about bidding on lots of lots - I find it strange to bid $100 on coin that is regularly going for $300 - $400. I don't have a clue why I haven't just bid. I will do that - especially for the common dates that are regularly at the higher grades. Who knows I might win one.
Right on. It doesn't cost anything to bid. I rarely mind losing, and bid well if it's really important to me. Is there still a requirement for floor bidders to add a "minimum increment", just like internet bidders ? Sometimes that increment can be hundreds of dollars.
Each auction house has its own rules, but generally the ones being queried here go a bit like this - Floor bidding opens at the next increment over the second-highest internet/absentee bidder and proceeds from there. If a floor bidder is informed that the current bid belongs to "the book" (means that the item currently belongs to an absentee or internet bidder or, perhaps, the consigner's reserve or bid) and that bidding the next increment will get them the item, they must indeed bid the next full increment and not just another dollar. Hope some of that helps.
I am not a fan of Heritage. They periodically feature books that I am interested in bidding on with a "photo to be posted later" and they never post the picture. Even after I e-mail them several times. Also, they never reply to e-mails.
