increasing a bid at teletrade

joebb21

What is the logic of teletrade not allowing you to increase your own bid by one increment?

"To increase your max bid, you must enter a bid at least two increments above your current max bid."

This has been their policy for years now and it just does not make any sense to me.

The consignor looses by not allowing me to bid that one increment higher- if somebody bids the same amount as me, I remain the winning bidder at that increment and not get bumped up.

The buyer looses in that if somebody comes in and places a bid one increment above mine, I get outbid-and I get upset as I wanted that coin at that increment.

I have been mentioning this issue to teletrade for over 3 years now and it still has never been addressed.

perhaps I am just missing something in their logic.

roadrunner

If you want to raise your bid by one increment just do it normally. I guess they want the max bids to be used in other situations. When I used to bid at TT I often would just raise my bid increment by increment
until I took out the other higher bidder, found the reserve price, or ran out of money on the coin. That would free me up to bid on other coins. Another option is to have a 3rd party put in a max bid on your behalf
if the coin is really special to you at that +1 increment price.

I can recall a number of times in the older TT days where I was the high bidder and figured it was too close to a key bid point where the odds of me being taken out in the next few minutes or hours were quite high. So in
those cases I just would bite the bullet and raise my own bid another increment (ie bidding against myself). This came in handy at bid points were the bid increments jumped in price (ie like at $950 or $975).
In some instances, the next bid was a bargain as the bid increment jumped from say $25 to $50 or $50 to $100. In the end, you bid the most you want to pay and hope you get it.

But I can see some logic in TT not wanting you to own the current bid as well as the next bid higher (for free). The next guy bidding has to bid 2 increments higher to take out your max bid. I guess they figure if you're willing
to put in a max bid one step higher, someone else will as well. Giving that max bid to another bidder now puts you in the position of having to bid 2 steps higher and keep the lot moving up. These guys are super pros at
setting reserves, coaxing higher prices, etc. If they want it like this....it's probably because it makes them more money in the aggregate. If you want the next bid increment while you already own the high bid....then bid
the next increment normally. Nothing stops you from doing that. And if that max bid meant that much to you, it should have been set at that level early in bidding process when everyone else tends to place them as well.
Last time I played on TT they didn't allow you to use the max bids once the auction was underway (or was it the last hour of bidding?). In any case they seem to prefer real time bids once the auction is underway. Choose
your max bid well ahead of time. Then you can try to jump the bid right underneath it to accomplish your goal of owning both bids.