Have you ever exercised the nuclear option at auction...
DCW
Posts: 6,747 ✭✭✭✭✭
....and wound up in a mushroom cloud?
I ask, because I sometimes find myself at the end of an eBay auction, rummaging through the nuclear codes with an increased heart rate as the final seconds tick off of an item I simply MUST own!
It is a dangerous game.
I'm sure someone has been burned by this technique. So any brave souls want to share their story along with the item they will be buried with?
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
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And to clarify, by "nuclear option" I mean an enormously ridiculous bid that no other sane person would think reasonable in order to own a desired piece.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
So... you're thinking in Mutually Assured Destruction there's one sane person?
Not I but I do enjoy watching it happen during an auction. Peace Roy
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I did this on a mid-five-figure coin and was outbid by someone who accidentally added two extra zeros. They were still happy with the coin but my bid was 5x more than any comparable example had sold for. They're lucky I only used fission instead of fusion!
I've bid, but it's hard to know if it's nuclear until you go to sell.
I can't remember ever doing this. I have certainly overpaid for coins before, but not at auction.
No. After some research, I predetermine what I believe a coin is worth and won’t budge. Keeps my marriage intact.
BHNC Associate member #AN-07 … 88 and counting.
I nuclear bid about once a week and almost always win.
These are the coins that are very easy to resell
If you are bidding at prices that are easy to resell, are the bids really nuclear?
My bid is a nuke bid. Whether or not others are, I do not know their mindset.
Super easy to resell as I only nuke bid the best of the best.
To me, if it's easy to resell, it's not a nuclear bid, but a very reasonable and well-informed bid.
A nuclear bid to me is one where you can only resell at a heavy and potentially embarrassing loss. For a truly nuclear bid, the loss would need to affect one 's overall coin budget.
If nukes were a good deal, countries would be launching nukes all the time to settle disputes.
Yes, and it sure did not bode well for the person I was bidding against and lost.
WS
I am in a very thin market and some of the dealers miss what I see and do not bid. Nor do collectors. I search the internet for error coins about 12 hours each day.
Many of the nuke wars I get in are with another dealer.
Something like ....
My bid ..................$907
Dealer 2 bid ..........$900
Collector 3 bid ..... $430
Where there is a huge difference in knowledgeable dealers' bids vs collector bids for wahtever reason.
Yea, I'm talking about adding zeros to your bid here. Only for those who are sick of being the underbidder and irrational enough to be OK with winning at all cost.
The problem is when there is another madman out there with tbe same mentality and nothing to loss... but money.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
In this example, bidder 1 and 2 are much higher than bider 3, but if bidder 1 can turn around and resell it for more, it's not a nuke bid to me, but a sound business decision.
In your example, the top 2 bids would be nuke bids to me if the coin could only be resold for say $500, resulting in a large percentage loss.
A nuclear decision is one of potential destruction (negative ROI), not positive ROI.
I guess our definitions of nuke bids are different.
I nuke bid on underpriced exceptional material that I view as easy to resell for a profit.
(IMO) You view a nuke bid as a way to get the coin you must have knowing that when you resell you will lose 50%.
Sorry, that is not the way I do coins.
I have wanted a coin bad enough that I have stuck my neck out a few times...and have been on both sides...winner and loser on the bid.
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You're a good business person which is why your bids don't meet my definition of nuke bids.
Seems to me that nuke bids only apply to collectors. Dealers have more sense since they are buying to resell short-term.
I don't do it either; I'd never bid more than I'd be happy winning at, and if I had to sell it, take a small loss, perhaps, but never a huge one.
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Boris and Natasha say it is ok to launch a nuclear bid and then blame Moose and Squirrel when it fails.
Kennedys are my quest...
I have never seen an auction "I simply must own". If I really like it, I try to determine my max bid that I am willing to pay, and snipe that bid. There will always be people with more money than me, and if they want to pay more, more power to them.
I accidentally bid over $12,000 for a coin that I was trying to bid $120, does that count?
Guess what - I won! Fortunately the hammer price was much closer to $120 than $12,000.
No nuke bids for me, I can find something else I like.
Years back I was on the receiving end of a nuke bid, it was a common 1921 P Morgan. It wasn't a high grade MS-63, it wasn't a rare Vam, it was about a $30 coin. In the last seconds of the ebay auction it popped to $1,012.00 and the buyer paid. Not sure why they wanted it soo bad but was very happy with the result.
This wasn't a 6 figure coin so some may say it wasn't a nuke bid but a grand for a $30 coin doesn't happen every day.
"Adding a zero" implies bidding 10x what I think is reasonable. No, I've never done that. Back in the day, I may have gone double or even triple, but I'm much more circumspect in my advancing age.
I have lost auctions with strong bids that I thought were beyond what a reasonable person would pay...
I wouldnt call my bids "nuclear" but I certainly expected to win. I.e., I bid maybe 25% higher than all research suggests the coin should sell for.
Seems like there is always someone who wants it more.
My Gold Type Set
someone else bid over $1000 as well, besides the winner
That's true @davewesen
@ifthevamzarockin Methinks you either missed a rare variety or the other two buyers saw something to make them believe this was the case.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
@DCW
"Methinks you either missed a rare variety or the other two buyers saw something to make them believe this was the case."
I double & triple checked the coin after I saw the sale price, pretty sure it was just a common Morgan but maybe they saw something I didn't. ???
Nonsense like this can get you into trouble when you're bidding on common coins with exceptional toning. No, I don't nuke bid, I'm more often the underbidder than the winning bidder (Heritage should send me a medal or something), and I'm still trying to figure out how to get people to nuclear bid on stuff I'm selling.
I never did but I remember back in earlier eBay days hearing of someone who, if I remember correctly, bid something like $18K on a coin that was worth only a few hundred bucks....... and someone out nuke-bid him.
I believe I read that story here.
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
I feel that if I pick an absolutely upper end or higher for the grade coin, I will do that and have done so, recently. I have not lost a coin that I used this procedure, but the coin has to be all I want for that grade and more.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.
Be careful what you wish for. You only find out about a nuclear bid if two bidders employ the tactic, and there are regular complaints on the eBay message boards from sellers who have had that happen and find that the winning bidder backed out because "I made a mistake when I bid" or "my cat stepped on the keyboard".
I'm not wealthy enough to nuclear bid on coins. I have to make every dollar count. I guess I've never "needed" a coin so badly that I felt it was necessary to over pay for it.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
I only Nuke bid when I have to have the item. Obviously there has to be a cap. Adding a couple zeros is a bit extreme though. I usually just put in a strong snipe for what I want and call it done.
A couple years ago I had a collectible non-coin item that I had been looking for for 10-15 years. I had seen scans so I knew it existed but I never had seen a color picture of it. Then one morning there it was in all it's ebay glory with color photo. I set up my token place holder bid to keep it up on my active bid list. I watched it closely for the week and I had a gut feeling it was going to bring a strong price. I was hoping to pick it up for $100-$200. If a couple other serious collectors noticed it and were bidding I wasn't going to be surprised if it went for 2-3 times that amount. I dusted off the ole esnipe login and set a "nuclear bid" that I thought would prevail... just over $1,100 if I remember... just in case another bidder tried to nuke it at an even grand. The high bid on the final day was still under $50 and I was nervous, excited and hopeful. My nuke exploded a few seconds before the auction's end. My nuke was bigger than the other guys nuke by twice. The end price was almost $600, about 3x what I wanted to pay but half of what I was willing to nuke it for. I don't plan to sell it, I just had to have it. I figured it would be many more years if I ever saw another.
I thought that I did on a National Bank Note back in the 1970's. I was the 4th highest bidder! I still think about that note.
I could not have said it better.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
Well, that's just ErrorsonCoins being Errorsoncoins. But...
A nuclear bid does not necessarily equate to a nuclear price paid. You need two nuclear bids for that to happen...
I once accidentally bid 999,999,999 on a coin at Heritage. The 9 on my keyboard got stuck. I corrected it before the auction closed, but I did end up winning and slightly overpaying for the coin (which I still own) because I could only reduce my bid to the high bid and no one came in later and raised it.
No nuke bids here. I have too many other hobbies and life interests that need funding too. So set the price I am comfortable at and usually stick to it...
Sometimes if I am on streak where I keep losing everything, I may place a bid 20-25% above my perceived target, but on those I still very rarely win, seems that instead the person putting the nuke bids pays more.
I've done it. Got stung REAL BAD a time or two but it usually works out 'OK'.
I'll pass on some advice that was given to me long ago:
"in order to build your set the way you want, sometimes, you just have to pay up."
“I may not believe in myself but I believe in what I’m doing” ~Jimmy Page~
My Full Walker Registry Set:
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Well, let's see it!
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I think the scenario @Batman23 is pretty central to what I'm getting at.
Money is certainly a factor in what I can buy and what I have to let go gently into that Goodnight...
So, for me to personally launch a nuclear strike on an eBay auction I have certain rules of engagement:
Defcon 1.The item has to be rare, not just in this grade but RARE as in unique or only a handful known
Defcon 2. If I miss out on it, I may never get another shot, and may suffer sleepless nights wondering what could have been
Defcon 3.I can consider the extra $$$ spent part of the cost of ending the hours, days, weeks, months, years of the search
And most importantly...
Defcon 4. I must be positive that the wife will never find out about it.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Probably not an exciting thing for most coin collectors, but this is local old town history for me.
If anyone happens to see this and knows any history on it I would be happy to read more about it.
Seller's picture is a little blurry but you get the idea.
That pretty much sums up the bullet points to justify Nuclear bidding.
Yes, never got nuked though. Sometimes you must win.
See - you must just rip off the band aid and condition her, more importantly talk endlessly about it and all other purchases. She will then do one of two things; get into it just like you (big win) or never ever want to discuss again and avoid all talk about coins (win). Win-wins are possible.
True enough, but if the thing you bought can easily be resold for a profit, you didn't make a nuclear bid if this is the bid history:
My bid ..................$907
Dealer 2 bid ..........$900
Collector 3 bid ..... $430
Yes, but it was unclear from EOC's comment on whether the bidding went like that or more like this:
My bid $10,000
Bid 2 - $13.00
Bid 1 - $12.00
@jmlanzaf
That's a good point. The true nuclear bid is usually way over the top of the underbidder's max.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."