Huggins and Scott Auction bid increments good for buyers, bad for consigners

[BobC]

Originally Posted by whiteymet

Bob:

There is at least one AH (Clean Sweep) that does basically the exact opposite of what you suggest. That AH has the 10% increments that the OP has suggested would be better for the consignor. But as the auction goes into extended bidding their policy is to add an additional 5% to the buyers premium for bids received after 1:30 AM and an additional 10% after 2;30 AM.

What is everyone's take on that policy?

Fred,

I forgot about them doing that. But think about it, say you've been after a particular lot in one of their auctions all night, going head-to head with another just as determined bidder. It's late, you're tired, and the other guy just went over your last bid that was just about the top amount you'd pay for the lot. You really like and want the card in that lot and have been working and bidding to get it all night. Now say that last bid topping you was at $500, and it just went past 2:30 AM. Are you more likely to say WTF and throw in another bid if the bid increment was suddenly cut to $25 (5.0%), or go the extra $125 (25.0%) to now cover the higher increment imposed by Clean Sweep?

I think any normal person with half a brain would know the answer to that without thinking. Using Clean Sweep's increasing bid increment philosophy, you probably aren't going to suddenly go 25% over what you thought a lot was worth in one single bid. But if in this case that next bid is only $25, you may just think, hell yeah, I'll go a little bit more and see if the other person drops out. And even if the other bidder comes right back to top you again, so now you drop out to let them win, that lot just went for about 10% more than it would have otherwise if the increased bid increments were in place.

Quite honestly, the increasing bid increment philosophy seems to have more to do with getting the auction to end earlier so the AH employees can go home than it does with trying to always get the most money for the consignors. And assuming the employees are getting paid by the hour, I can understand why an AH might want to curtail how long the auctions run to cut their payroll, but to the potential detriment of some consignors.