[nolemmings]

As a newbie, I'm curious to know how the partnering usually works. How do you decide who places the bids? How do you jointly decide upon the maximum bid price on the lot? How do you decide the cost you will share if you still don't know how much the lot will close for? If the lot is a bunch of commons and a key HOF, how do you decide how much of the cost the person getting the HOF should cover?

There are of course many ways to approach it, but I'll give you some generalities on some deals where I have participated. I have not been in any large consortia, which may have its own dynamic. For smaller groups, you set a max price that you're willing to go, and commit to shares (not necessarily equal) of that price. The collectors then piece out what cards they must have as part of their take and divvy up the rest in a manner they all find acceptable. In your example, one guy might insist on the HOFer and may not get much else and/or may have to be flexible, and of course may end up paying just as much as others depending on the HOFer--everyone prices these out in their own minds to make sure they're getting their desired value. I've also been part of a winning lot where we had kind of a "draft" of the residual or common players--I pick Betzel, you take Weilman, my turn again, etc.

When the price approaches or exceeds your max, you need to have everyone on board as to what happens next. You pick someone as bidder at the outset, and stay in pretty regular contact, especially of course auction night. Obviously, trust and familiarity go a long way. You have a bidding strategy--maybe enter a block bid or jump a few spots beyond the next increment so that the opponent will have to exceed your max to go in the lead. You confirm beforehand that if your max is topped, who in your group is out and whether/should the group continue--if so, someone or all may have to commit more $$$ to the project. It can get frenzied but not in my experience--again, if you know your "partners" there is a comfort level that can make these things go very smoothly.

I'm probably leaving out a bunch of things but there's a starting point.