Contact from an Auction as an Under Bidder

[x2drich2000]

Yup, had it happen to me with this card. When it was auctioned I wanted 1 of this type for my collection and 5 were in the same auction. 1 was higher grade so I figured I couldn't afford it. Another was in a large lot and figured I couldn't afford the whole lot and I wanted this one more anyway. Going into the auction, this was my priority. Well auction night came along and I got outbid on this and ended up settling for my lowest priority. Was definitely thrilled to pick up one though. Shortly thereafter the one in the large lot popped up on Ebay and I grabbed it. Then the auction house contacted me about buying this one at my max. Since it was the one I really wanted that I could afford, I jumped at the chance to get it. Today I have 4 of the 5 (still interested in the other, hint hint) that were in the auction and anyone that knows me knows my obsession with these.

[Snapolit1]

My immediate response to this scenario (has happened a few times) is that the winner was a shill in cahoots with the seller and the price was unfairly run up. Someone "accidentially won" and there was an "oh shit" moment. Depending on the circumstances (partucular AH, etc.) I could be convinced otherwise.

My fraud antenna would be up big time if I was contacted 20 minutes after the auction ended. And that has happened on eBay. That's real fishy. (Somehow seller already knows that 20 minutes later that this is a non-payment situation?)

I'd day most of the time I walk away from these situations. Wait for the next one.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

My immediate response to this scenario (has happened a few times) is that the winner was a shill in cahoots with the seller and the price was unfairly run up. Someone "accidentially won" and there was an "oh shit" moment. Depending on the circumstances (partucular AH, etc.) I could be convinced otherwise.

My fraud antenna would be up big time if I was contacted 20 minutes after the auction ended. And that has happened on eBay. That's real fishy. (Somehow seller already knows that 20 minutes later that this is a non-payment situation?)

I'd day most of the time I walk away from these situations. Wait for the next one.

I usually have the same thoughts about shill bidding.

On the other hand as someone who sold a lot of cards in the early years of eBay. If I had multiples of the card I would always offer all the bidders at or above the price I would sell it for a chance at buying one. Sometimes I still do. In my experience it is about 50 50 on if they buy it from a second chance offer.

I have very little AH experiance.

[isiahfan]

Given this example with $100 bidding increments and you are the underbidder (Bidder 2):

Bidder 1 - $5000
Bidder 2 - $4900
Bidder 3 - $4000

I am sure the AH will contact you and ask if you are willing to pay the $4900....but if Bidder 1 bowed out...then really you should be getting it at $4100...which is what I would negotiate for. Whether or not you are successful could obviously sway your decision.

[x2drich2000]

Originally Posted by isiahfan

Given this example with $100 bidding increments and you are the underbidder (Bidder 2):

Bidder 1 - $5000
Bidder 2 - $4900
Bidder 3 - $4000

I am sure the AH will contact you and ask if you are willing to pay the $4900....but if Bidder 1 bowed out...then really you should be getting it at $4100...which is what I would negotiate for. Whether or not you are successful could obviously sway your decision.

Except you and the AH never know if someone else would have bid between $4100 and $4800 but couldn't because the bid was already pushed higher than that amount. In these situations you really need to look at it as a buy it now rather than an auction because you'll never be able to tell how others people would have bid if bidder 1 was taken out of the picture.

[FrankWakefield]

Don't you guys mean $4000, instead of $4100????

[raulus]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

Don't you guys mean $4000, instead of $4100????

I think with the bid increment rule, if bidder 3 is at $4,000, then the next highest bid would need to be at $4,100.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by x2drich2000

Except you and the AH never know if someone else would have bid between $4100 and $4800 but couldn't because the bid was already pushed higher than that amount. In these situations you really need to look at it as a buy it now rather than an auction because you'll never be able to tell how others people would have bid if bidder 1 was taken out of the picture.

Exactly! I was just about to post this as well. People always claim they should be able to buy it for one bid above the 3rd place bidder, but that's not fair either, for the reasons you outlined above.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

We have only done it once or twice when a higher end item went unpaid. Of course at that point it's at least several weeks after the auction when collection efforts have failed, but we don't like to do it as the optics of it aren't good for reasons already shared in this thread.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by Snowman

Exactly! I was just about to post this as well. People always claim they should be able to buy it for one bid above the 3rd place bidder, but that's not fair either, for the reasons you outlined above.

By auction law if you are removing a bidder you have to remove all of their bids, not just their last bid, which leaves you with the third place bidder scenario, but I see the point about the psychology of bidding.

[Rhotchkiss]

This has happened to me several times over the years. My decision to buy or not is sometimes based on how badly I still want the card and sometimes based on whether I trust the auction house. In the first case, sometimes I agreed to buy the card bc I still wanted it and sometimes I no longer wanted it (at that price or otherwise) and declined. In the second case, there are auction houses that have hidden reserves and others I feel don’t police shenanigans as well as other outfits. If the offer is from one of these auction houses, I have decide if I was really the “underbidder”, and if not, do I care/do I still want the card. This has happened twice and both times I declined bc I felt like I may be getting played

While I won’t publicly name AH’s I have less faith in, I will state that I have strong confidence in REA, LOTG, Memory Lane, Sterling, and Collector Connection; please note that my failure to list an AH as having strong confidence does not mean I don’t trust and otherwise have concern about that AH, but rather this list represents who I feel most confident about if I were to be contacted in the manner asked by OP