Auction - Did You “Win”, or were you the “High Bidder”? Psychological Difference

winesteven

I acquire most of my coins via auction. I see many posts of members where they state that they “won” a coin, whether on an eBay auction, or a more traditional one, such as GC, Heritage, Legend, DLRC, etc. For myself, I always think of it as being the “High Bidder”, as I don’t believe I “won” anything, but in reality all I did was PURCHASE a coin at a price I was willing to pay. For those that have the mindset of “winning” a coin, is there a possibility of subconsciously bidding a tiny bit higher so you can “win”?

jabba

I guess people have the mind set of competition you complete to “win” the coin with others so in that context your the Winner chicken dinner

winesteven

@jabba said:
I guess people have the mind set of competition you complete to “win” the coin with others so in that context your the Winner chicken dinner

I understand. However, when roaming a coin show, and you see a dealer has that very special coin you’d like, since all others can see that too, and you buy it first, did you “win” it, since in theory you were in competition with others at the show, some of whom may have also wanted that “special” coin, but you PURCHASED it first?

jabba

Very true I think it’s still a basic mind set we where born into a competitive society from childhood we try to win at games then into adulthood winning the rat 🐀 race I think it’s how we are wired but I totally understand your view it is kinda silly to say hay I won that falls into are need for gratification.

lkeigwin

"I won this coin at Heritage" is easy to say and for others to understand. The more correct statement is "I paid more for this coin than anyone else was willing to pay".

ctf_error_coins

If I am the high bidder then it is a win for sure.

I do not buy losers.

MasonG

The Terms and Conditions for Heritage auctions call the buyer the "winning bidder". Good enough for me.

winesteven

@lkeigwin said:
"I won this coin at Heritage" is easy to say and for others to understand. The more correct statement is "I paid more for this coin than anyone else was willing to pay".

I fully agree, but the same can be said when you purchase a coin from a dealer at a show. You paid more than all others who looked at that coin before you, but chose to not pay that much. You can then retort that if a person got to that dealer after your purchase, that other person may have not negotiated as well as you, and would have paid more than you. And then I would reply that one of the drawbacks of consigning to an auction is there may be others interested in that coin that just didn’t look at the lots in that auction, but if they had, they might have bid more than you.

winesteven

@MasonG said:
The Terms and Conditions for Heritage auctions call the buyer the "winning bidder". Good enough for me.

And casinos don’t call their participants “gamblers”, they call them “Players”.
Auction houses benefit when some bidders allow emotion to be involved to “win” something.

messydesk

The term "winning bidder" is clearly understood to mean the person who gets to pay more for the lot than anyone else wanted to. Whether the term came from the nature bidding being a competition or the competition is driven by the fact that "winning" is the term used, I don't know. Saying you "won" a lot is simply a linguistic convenience over saying you were "winning bidder on" a lot. Sort of like saying you "made" a coin, when you really mean that you "submitted a coin to a grading service and they deigned to assign it a grade which pleases you."

tokenpro

If the high bidder at the auction is a "winner", then is the purpose of the United States Mint to insure that "everybody gets a trophy"?

Zoins

@messydesk said:
Sort of like saying you "made" a coin, when you really mean that you "submitted a coin to a grading service and they deigned to assign it a grade which pleases you."

I agree.

I also guess when Dan Carr says he made a coin, it has a different meaning

Davideo

If I paid a lot under my max, then I "won". If I was stretched to my max, then I was the "highest bidder".

MasonG

For those that have the mindset of being the “high bidder” for a coin, is there a possibility of subconsciously bidding a tiny bit more so your bid can be the “highest”?

cameonut2011

I would only use the word "win" if it was a mega rip/cherry pick. There is no psychological effect for me.

ricko

In an auction, you compete against other bidders.... at a show, you purchase or move on, there is no competition. Now, that being said, the price you pay could also determine if you are a winner (good price/value) or loser (buried forever)...Cheers, RickO

BillDugan1959

In the present market environment, one suspects that the auction underbidder(s) are often the real winner(s).

BryceM

Well, I don't know, but at least once I was incredibly happy when I got outbid.

3stars

Auction win = first overpayer

PerryHall

You're basically saying the same thing. You have to be the high bidder in order to be the winner of an auction. The second highest bidder is the loser in an auction.

mannie gray

@BryceM said:
Well, I don't know, but at least once I was incredibly happy when I got outbid.

Yes that is a good feeling.

coinbuf

The point of an auction is to create a competitive environment and obtain the highest price possible for the auction lot. Thus you are directly competing with other bidders in an auction format, but you are not directly competing with individuals on the bourse floor. It is a somewhat indirect competition as the buyer may consider himself the winner because he found the coin before anyone else, however it was not really winning (perhaps really losing) if there is no other person on the bourse floor interested in that particular coin. I don't see the difference, at the end of the day I bought a coin at a price I was willing to pay no matter the venue used to obtain it.

topstuf

@BillDugan1959 said:
In the present market environment, one suspects that the auction underbidder(s) are often the real winner(s).

Gluggo

@winesteven said:
I acquire most of my coins via auction. I see many posts of members where they state that they “won” a coin, whether on an eBay auction, or a more traditional one, such as GC, Heritage, Legend, DLRC, etc. For myself, I always think of it as being the “High Bidder”, as I don’t believe I “won” anything, but in reality all I did was PURCHASE a coin at a price I was willing to pay. For those that have the mindset of “winning” a coin, is there a possibility of subconsciously bidding a tiny bit higher so you can “win”?

Your making me feel like I did not win but am a looser for bidding to high. Now I am depressed.

ctf_error_coins

@topstuf said:

@BillDugan1959 said:
In the present market environment, one suspects that the auction underbidder(s) are often the real winner(s).

You can win any game ....

https://youtu.be/bDg674aS-F4

REALGATOR

I think of it as winning because I obtained the item at my price (or better). The market may eventually prove me wrong, but at the moment "I won". Not every coin for sale has been seen by all the geniuses we have here.

ARCO

I am the "high bidder" when my bid secures the coin, but it is usually at a higher price than I hoped to get it for. "Winning" is when I am the high bidder and I get the coin at or below what I wanted to pay.

MFeld

@winesteven said:
I acquire most of my coins via auction. I see many posts of members where they state that they “won” a coin, whether on an eBay auction, or a more traditional one, such as GC, Heritage, Legend, DLRC, etc. For myself, I always think of it as being the “High Bidder”, as I don’t believe I “won” anything, but in reality all I did was PURCHASE a coin at a price I was willing to pay. For those that have the mindset of “winning” a coin, is there a possibility of subconsciously bidding a tiny bit higher so you can “win”?

You can be the “high bidder”, but (in the cases of some minimum bids or reserves) still not end up purchasing the lot. But if you’re the “winning bidder”, the lot is yours. Additionally, “win” is defined as “be successful or victorious in (a contest or conflict).”

“Winning bidder” seems more apropos than “high bidder” (and sounds better than “purchaser”😉).

winesteven

I surrender!

scotty1419

I've been high bidder and not won the lot when the house 'gave' it to an onsite bidder...

That aside, many times the high bidder can 'lose' by winning the lot...

Walkerfan

I believe that there is psychology to auction bidding and 'winning'.

Sometimes, the 'winner' is really the loser.

There is A LOT of adrenaline, ego and testosterone involved, IMHO.

I have been getting further and further away from auctions and will bid, only, when I have to. i.e. something that never comes to market or is UNIQUE in some way.

Cougar1978

If u win - are you now the end user?

savitale

I don't consider an auction purchase as "winning" in any meaningful way. At that moment I just happen to be the biggest fool in the room.

But it is helpful to have some word that differentiates the auction process from acquiring a coin through a typical retail transaction. You could choose any word you like: obtained, picked, snagged, snarfed, ... Our English language seems to have settled on "won".

Zoins

Sometimes I "win" as the underbidder

davewesen

Auctioneers use this mind trick telling all successful bidders they are the winner.

cameonut2011

@PerryHall said:
You're basically saying the same thing. You have to be the high bidder in order to be the winner of an auction. The second highest bidder is the loser in an auction.

Tell that to the guy who was the under bidder on the two six figure ($364k and $270k) common date Mercury Dimes sold by Legend Auctions recently.

cameonut2011

@MFeld said:
“Winning bidder” seems more apropos than “high bidder” (and sounds better than “purchaser”😉).

All of which sound a lot better than sucker, mark, rube, etc. With some of the ridiculous prices for common date top pops, I really do wonder how often the "under bidder" is a potted plant in the back of the room.

Edited to add: My comment was not targeted to any specific sale, item, or auction house.