[Leon]

These are good examples of things many of us think about when bidding.

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

Steve, I have similar questions (although not so much the integrity side of it, i have faith - maybe one of the last standing), and I often use max bid thinking that I will own the sweet spot. I have have had mixed results. Recently, I placed a max bid at Goodwin on a t206 Evers CB and I was high bidder at one spot below (although I paid a hefty price). At the same time, I placed (what I thought) was a very healthy max bid and the sweet spot on the 1933 goudey Lajoie at heritage, and I was outbid with 12 days left (it is a pretty card). So, I win some and lose some. On the one hand, I wonder if I superficially drove the card up to early (where later in the auction maybe people have eyes for other things and the number of suitors on "my" card goes down?). On the other hand, I know what I may be on the hook for and that helps define other bidding before the auction ends; although, there are plenty of times I did not place placeholder bids bc I assumed I would win some other max bid, and then I get out bid in extended time and lost chance on other cards. Also, so many times I have placed a max bid, and been bid out by one increment and wish in retrospect that that extra increment was my max bid.


So, this is where I am - I have come to believe that I only place a max bid on real big boy cards or when I need a card bad enough I don't mind overpaying. That way I know what my outside liability is and I can bid on other things accordingly.

One other point- my max bid on the 1933 Lajoie with BP was over $30k, and I was sure that was enough To get the card (like $6k more than any other 2 had sold for). In my mind, that money was spent. Then I was outbid, which made me feel like I found money.... This is dangerous. I found myself looking at a bunch of crap I would not normally consider bc I felt I had money burning my pocket. Luckily, I have not acted on that impulse, this time. But I have in the past and now I have some random cards that I just don't need/want. So that is another downside of max bid when your max is not max enough