[x2drich2000]

Originally Posted by GeoPoto

"High opening bids don't mix well with auctions requiring you have a bid in in order to bid in extended time."

I don't follow this -- isn't the only reason to be eligible for extended bidding so you can top opposing bids in overtime? Why would any bidder who wanted to bid in overtime be scared off by having to top the existing pre-overtime high bid?

Here is a good example I'm actually looking at right now. Currently there are 3 copies of a card I need for a set I'm working on at auction. They are probably going to sell in the $4-7k range each. I can afford to buy one, but definitely not all 3. I also only want 1. If the opening bid was $4k on each, I couldn't just put an opening bid in on all 3 at one time in case I ended up winning them all. I have to wait until I'm outbid on one to put a placeholder bid on one of the others. Now if the opening bid is $500, I can easily place my opening bid on all three (which I have) and see how things shake out at the end. As the number of cards you're looking for grows, maybe instead of 3 there are 10 similar priced cards you're looking at, you can get blocked out of putting placeholders in quite quickly.