Auction strategies

[PB234]

If 1105 were about it I would bid 1106.01. Never place two higher offers in advance.

[RED BEAR]

I recommend you bid right at the 15 minute mark because if you bid earlier you just give other bidders time to think and raise there bid. I have seen a lot of guns go way over what they should sell for. I have had really good success with this method. I will say when using gun broker look at a sellers feed back don't just look at the a+ rating because it seems everyone gets a+ no matter the feed back i tried to find out how a seller with over 70 bad reviews out of 400 all within last year was a+. And how they calculated that just got run around and never an answer.

[reddog81]

But if someone else bids up to $500 searching for your upper limit you may end up paying more than $500 when you could have won it for less. Other bidders cannot see your maximum bid and can only deduce it when they exceed it.

No one is going around bidding up everyone’s max bid to see what others limits are unless they have a large fortune to buy a whole bunch of guns. The person going around bidding above your highest bid is doing so because they’re willing to pay more than the current bid. It doesn’t matter if it’s 2 days or 2 seconds before the auction ends. If someone is willing to pay more than you today, more likely than not they’ll still be willing to pay more than you tomorrow.

For me, patience is the best strategy. Bid your highest bid on the gun and walk away. Unless the gun is something really rare another one will come up for sale or more often than not there’s already another one being auctioned off at a later date. Don’t get hung up on buying the first one you lay your eyes one.

[nun2kute]

I for one am extremely interested in what your are bidding on, but I don't want to ruin the action for you so I will patiently wait until after the auction for you to tell us what it is.

[Shawlerbrook]

Whatever you do, let us know how it turns out, with pictures of your new gun hopefully.

[FISH4BUGS]

I for one am extremely interested in what your are bidding on, but I don't want to ruin the action for you so I will patiently wait until after the auction for you to tell us what it is.

You could water board me and I won't tell.
I will let you know if/when I win....with photos.

[RogerDat]

I agree going with an odd slightly higer price not some even common amount is a good strategy. A $1,106.54 bid would beat a bid that was a more "rounded" $1,105.00 or the $1 bump to $1,106.00 or the $1.50 bump to $1,106.50

While I agree that if someone is willing to spend more then they can buy it I think you have to consider that these other people may have already put in their own "retail + I want it premium" max price. You beating that price with only a minute or two for them to realize and then re-assess if they wish to increase their own "I want it premium" probably means at least some of those that bid above retail won't see or make a decision to counter your higher bid in time. Given more time some other bidders might decide they can go "a few dollars more".

One thing to consider however is your own willingness to go a few dollars more. You wait until the very last minute and you may find that the current winning bid is one you would be willing to go a few dollars higher to beat. However if you haven't left yourself time to assess how high your bid forces the automatic bids then you won't be able to increase your bid. I mean if $8 additional on an $1,100 gun would make it yours you might well decide to bump your own max price by that $8.

Good luck, hoping that you get you win and post pictures of the rifle happily in its new home.

[reddog81]

Getting into a last minute bidding war isn’t good for anyone but the seller.

[PB234]

Sometimes it is just fun to wear the other fellow out by increasing the bid 5 every fifteen minutes. Some folks fool around at auctions just bidding things up for the fun of it. You get a feel occasionally where the bid is going. Even more obvious on eBay. On eBay some fools place multiple bids back to back. How much dummer can people get? They go wild over buck 110$ all the time. Of. Purse you have to be willing to get stuck with it.

[FISH4BUGS]

Well guys, I lost it.....but not for trying. With 15 minutes left and the bidding at $860, I threw in my maximum bid of 1126.50. It held for a while and I even raised it to 1241.55. Whoever outbid me went to $1250. Even I said "enough"....even as much as I wanted the gun. I even went over my original maximum....but I had to exercise some self-control.
Here is the description: Offered at no Reserve is this excellent desirable Colt 3 5 7 6" heavy barrel .357 mag. DA revolver. Serial # dates gun to 1960 mfg. Features a beautiful blued finish throughout, with only some very faint muzzle wear. Additional features include grooved back strap with adjustable rear sight. Excellent original fully checked walnut service grips. Bore excellent sharp and shiny, lock up and timing Colt solid. Don't miss out on a beautiful example of a scarce Colt 357 DA revolver at no reserve. C&R eligible.
I have to say this is the best one I have seen in years. They are a pleasure to shoot and are freaky accurate.
For those that don't know, they only made some 15,000 of these and they were the direct forerunner to the Python. The 3 5 7 had all the same internals of the Python, and is built on the Python frame, but not with the fancy vent rib and high polish blue. These guns are bench rest accurate.
In a way, the Colt 3 5 7 is to the Python what the S&W Model 28 is to the Model 27. Same gun just lots of more finishing work and bluing to the Python and the 27.
I'll get another someday.....just not this one.
Let's see if I can post the photos.
Attachment 234797 Attachment 234798Attachment 234799
Oh well....can't win 'em all.
Kinda proud of myself that I actually exercised some self-control....somebody JUST wanted in more than I did.
MANY THANKS TO ALL FOR YOUR ADVICE.

[Elkins45]

I sold a preban AR lower that isn’t on the CT prohibited list, so I expected it would bring a premium. That’s why I decided to sell it.

In the last 30 minutes the price went from $600 to $800, and the winner hadn’t placed a bid on it before winning. One guy had been winning for 6+ days but was outbid in the last half hour.

[Love Life]

I’d have offered $1500 on it and kicked the losers to the curb. Actual value isn’t always a factor for me. At $1,500 you could have shot it for years, enjoyed it, and probably broke even on your estate sale, lol.

[Shawlerbrook]

No Monday morning quarterbacking here. You did your best, tip your hat to the winner and move on. I have been there before and it only stings until you find the next “ can’t live without “ gun that comes across your bow.

[Petrol & Powder]

No one is going around bidding up everyone’s max bid to see what others limits are unless they have a large fortune to buy a whole bunch of guns. The person going around bidding above your highest bid is doing so because they’re willing to pay more than the current bid. It doesn’t matter if it’s 2 days or 2 seconds before the auction ends. If someone is willing to pay more than you today, more likely than not they’ll still be willing to pay more than you tomorrow.

For me, patience is the best strategy. Bid your highest bid on the gun and walk away. Unless the gun is something really rare another one will come up for sale or more often than not there’s already another one being auctioned off at a later date. Don’t get hung up on buying the first one you lay your eyes one.

I believe you misunderstood what I was saying.

Lets say you've put in a max bid of $500 but the auction is only showing $300 due to the automatic bid process. The other bidder doesn't know where that upper limit is. All he knows is that when he puts in bid of $320 the price goes to $330. (the auction site immediately increases the max bid because it's still under your $500 maximum limit). Not all auction sites have that automatic bidding feature but some do.

In that above scenario the other bidder may continue to place bids in an effort to "find" that upper limit and then abandon his efforts to purchase the item. You may ultimately end up with the item but at a higher price than necessary. Sellers like the automatic bidding feature because it tends to drive the final price up.

When you're bidding against a person and not just an automatic counter bid, you can slow down and let the other bidder "cool off" a bit instead of allowing the auction to just drive the price up. It is not an absolutely successful strategy but it is part many strategies that apply to auctions.

In a face to face auction there is no time limit or fixed length the auction will run, the bidding continues until there's a winner.
In an on-line auction, there's a time limit in which the auction will end and some sites have a 15 minute rule at the end of that time limit that is triggered by a late bid.

In an on line auction you cannot read your opponents. The only information you have about your competitors is the amount of their bid and the timing of their bid. If you place a high bid early in an effort to discourage other bidders that may not have the desired effect if that high bid isn't shown. The automatic bidding feature negates the shock effect of a high bid. Again , it all depends on how the site is set up.

[Petrol & Powder]

getting into a last minute bidding war isn’t good for anyone but the seller.

/\ agreed /\

[FISH4BUGS]

I’d have offered $1500 on it and kicked the losers to the curb. Actual value isn’t always a factor for me. At $1,500 you could have shot it for years, enjoyed it, and probably broke even on your estate sale, lol.

While I agree in principle, the gun was PROBABLY worth retail $900 tops. I had intended to keep it for the rest of my years, shoot it....and shoot it for years like you suggest.
I was willing to pay a few hundred over what I felt was top dollar, but I wasn't willing to go THAT far....but truth be known, the thought DID occur to me. I had targeted $1150 or so as max.
I had a Colt 3 5 7 at one time and it was a smooth shooting gun.
There will be others I am sure.
You must have patience, grasshopper.......
But good lessons are learned from this.
Kind of like a divorce....there are lessons to be learned.

[owejia]

Keep watching another one just may show up for auction. Some times people watch auction sites to value what an item is worth, hopefully some one with another Colt was watching.

[nun2kute]

I agree that would have made a very nice addition to your collection. But ... "But good lessons are learned from this." ... you cant possibly believe you lost anything with this kind of attitude. And thanks for keeping us updated.

[RogerDat]

Kudos on not losing your head and condolences on not winning the bid. It has been an interesting and informative discussion around your original question.

[FISH4BUGS]

Kudos on not losing your head and condolences on not winning the bid. It has been an interesting and informative discussion around your original question.

That is what we are here for - to learn and exchange info.
This site has been a wonderful source of information, tips and techniques.
I appreciate it enormously.
Thanks again to all.