Online auction strategies

[molenick]

For most online auctions run by an AH (e.g., REA, LOTG, Heritage, etc.), I tend to put in a qualifying bid as early as possible, see how things stand on the last day, and then prioritize the lots I want to actively go for at that point.

On the last day, some will have already been disqualified (for me) because the bidding is too high. I never know which ones this will be, so I like having a lot of qualifier bids in so I have the option to jump around. I don't expect to win any items with my first bid, I just want to get a bid in so I can bid in "extended bidding".

Occasionally I will notice an item I want to bid on later than usual (I always try to qualify for items on the first day), so a bid would be placed after many other bids have already been placed. Again, not expecting to win it at that price, just trying to qualify (but sometimes this mid-auction bid holds up).

Very rarely, I will see that something I really want has gotten very high earlier than expected, so if I do have a max bid, I may throw that in before the last day.

For eBay, I almost always wait until the end to bid.