bad timing and lesson learned

[darwinbulldog]

Last week I was following several lots in the Hunt Auctions live auction. I placed bids on a number of items for which I had a pretty good idea of the value and was outbid on one after another which went for higher than I was expecting (and, importantly, significantly more than the lower end of their Estimated Price Range). I figured I wasn't going to win anything, but when I happened to check back in they were auctioning off one of the later lots that I had followed and put in a placeholder bid for.

It was a 1912 copy of Casey at the Bat. They had posted an estimated range of $2000-$4000, and I didn't have time at that point to look up past auction sales or others currently available so I put in a bid at the current increment and was surprised to win the auction (for a bit less than the low end of the listed estimated range, buyers' premium included).

Then I went to see if I had gotten a bargain and found several other copies of the same item currently available for less than 50% of the bid I had entered. Most of them have since been sold, perhaps after sitting on the shelf for years, so I think I may have accidentally moved the market. Anyway, there are some cheaper copies still on eBay.

My mistake for relying on their posted estimate in the heat of the live auction, but you can go ahead and stick me in a lineup with Marquard, Waddell, Kroh, and all your other favorite rubes. And if one of you was the underbidder and was relying on the same bad information I was, you're welcome.