Posted By:
barrysloateJulie,
It's funny you should bring up Lew Lipset's chart, because that is what I have been using as a guide for every one of my auctions. I tore them out of his past catalogs and keep them in plastic; they sit on my desk throughout my auctions and when someone calls to leave a ceiling bid, I pull them out and all my calculations are already worked out. I always give people the numbers and explain they have to bid in even number increments, so that if someone tops them they come back in at the next 10% level. In that way, I never have any confusion as the auction progresses. I think what happened in Steve's case is that the increments became uneven and were confusing, and he was thus left with a situation where two people were allowed to get in at the same bid. That should never happen because all it does is get one those people upset. He just needs a clearer system, that's all. And I have to tell you that the Lipset charts have been a great timesaver for me and it always avoids confusion at the end.