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Posted By: barrysloate

I think their use of the term "$50K reserve" was a misnomer. Once it was stated there was a hidden reserve higher than that number, all the 50K meant was "opening bid." I think we are making too much of that number. The only ones that really matter are the last bid, and to an almost equal extent, the one directly before it.

This is an example of why bidders should set a ceiling and work toward that goal- and then stop and say "I'm done." Once you start using the previous bid as a guide, especially on a lot where there is a stated reserve, you can never be sure if there is someone else who values the lot as high as you, or you are bidding against the book.

What Leland's did is legal by auction law, just not something that bidders favor. But they could not have gotten the strip without entering an agreement with the seller, and I presume they weighed the pros and cons and decided it was worth taking it.