Post Auction (Loss) Behavior Changes?
 

We're past the mid-way point of the spring auction season, and I figure I'm batting around .250 (which is fine for a back-up catcher with a cannon arm, but I don't possess one, so I'm kind of SOL.) Anyway, with each mounting loss I find myself more likely to buy that "slightly overpriced" BIN that's been sitting in my watch list for the last three months. I start thinking about changing my objectives to include more attainable grades/cards. And I'm starting to feel that some overpriced sellers are maybe more reasonable than they once appeared to be. I'm not saying this is rational, but I feel like I all of a sudden have "house money," so I'm more likely to place an undisciplined bet and try to re-coup some of my "losses."

My question is whether anyone else, after losing a few auctions, changes their buying strategy? Do you think or do anything differently, or just stay the course?

I've been trying to learn to trust my instincts and lately I've been right in my brain but wrong in bidding. Just a small example:

I wanted the Mike Trout signed career hit number 332 baseball from Goldin's last auction. I stopped bidding at $700 because although my brain told me that was still a good deal, my heart said stop bidding that's too much money already. Then the ball sold for $1,300 with juice.

So heart, stay out of my brain's business. He knows what he's doing. Brain calls the shots from here on out.

Sam - When you think about if you should have bid higher in the auction, say to yourself, "Sometimes you gotta say WTF" :D

I agree with the post above (packs). Know your limit and stick to it. The beautiful thing about this hobby is that 9 times out of 10 another copy will come around. If your patient you will be able to scoop the card up for the price you are willing to pay or less.

I've gotten caught up a few times with the bidding...if I place a bid and 2 minutes later someone out bids me, my heart says go after it and I end up overpaying. I'm sure wen you look at sold listings you will see the prices all over the map and not always trending up or down..

Try your best to be the guy who gets the card he wants at a price lower than your willing to pay.

Would love to hear some stories on how buyers have swooped in and landing a bid fish on nearly nothing!

I've been shut out from the past few major auctions recently, but I'm trying to stay the course, and not go over what I think are reasonable values for cards I want to buy. I haven't won any PowerBall lotteries, so I only have a limited card budget. I still feel it's better to try to be selective rather than overpaying for something I will regret down the line. Saying that, I sometimes do go for the odd ebay BIN especially when there is an 8-10% ebay bucks promotion. Also, I might re-focus some of my collecting habits to go for the 2nd or 3rd tier cards on my want list if the prices of the cards on my first tier have gotten wildly out of control. Finally, I sometimes find that I may have to re-adjust the thinking on what a reasonable value for certain cards should be, if I find that I just cannot win anything I want anymore.

Hi Sam. I'm one of those people with poor impulse control, so I'm always getting frustrated and bidding too high the next time. Sometimes it works out well, sometimes not.

But I don't recommend following my example.

Sam,
 

I agree with Alan above. Sometimes you have to say WTF....

Wait, why say "WTF?" If the card is worth X to you, it's silly to spend more than X. If the card goes over that figure just find something else to spend $X on that's actually worth X to you. Take a trip somewhere. Give it to charity and take the X in karma. Or put it in the bank and buy another $X card next time around, one that really is worth X to you.

me too...and lately I have had the reverse "problem" as the op proposes.

I've been paying more than I wanted and winning all of it!!!!

So my "solution" is to not participate on any upcoming auctions for awhile!

If I'm shut out in an auction, I do find myself to be a bolder bidder in the following auction. If it's an item I really want, I will bid very very strongly as my patience isn't what i would like it to be. If it's an item thats not commonly offered, Im going to push my financial limits.

yes...that!!!!

What you said makes sense, except for a collector like me - regarding the sort of cards I collect, 9 times out of 10 another copy either won't ever come around or won't come around for a long time. Hence, I find it hard to have patience!
Val

I won't overpay. I end up not winning 95%+ of items I bid on.

My theory is I want so many different things, that there will always be something to buy tomorrow.

That being said, I did pay a premium yesterday for a three day pass to Desert Trip, after not getting a sniff at tickets through the regular sale.