I'm suffering from Auctioneous Conflictitis.
keets
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Auctioneous Conflictitis is an affliction which occurs when there are two or more auctions being held in a close timeframe of each other, both with items that you want to bid on. It's happening next month, there is a Stack's auction on March 26th and a Heritage auction on April 2nd.
For a blue-collar guy like me it presents a real dilemma. The item I most cherish, the one I'm willing to stretch, on is in the second Heritage sale. There are nice items in the Stack's sale a week earlier but nothing I can't live without. My worry is that I pass on the early stuff that can be won for good prices, only to be run up beyond reason in the later auction.
That would mean I walk away with nothing: Woe is me. 
So, have you ever faced such a situation?? How did things work out for you?? Perhaps I should follow an old remedy and drink plenty of fluids followed by some bed-rest.
Al H.
Comments
Gotta go where your heart is: The second Heritage sale.
By the way................I like your "old remedy".
Pete
Go with your gut...
Shut down the computer during auction 1 can always buy from winner if those coins become must haves. Don’t tell a sole which one your looking at. In fact you could distract the field with rumor of authenticity or bad lighting.
Best place to buy !
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A challenge for any tailor... so much for going to Brooks Brothers.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Well, I'm able to participate in about one of 10 big auctions, if that. If you end up with nothing, another one will be right around the corner. It doesn't hurt to build up a war chest for Summer ANA. There's plenty of stuff there to keep me entertained.
Never saw a coin that I had to have.
Two weeks after the auctions are over, you'll have forgotten about all the coins you didn't win. If you're sure that's not true about a particular coin, then you know what you should do.
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Do you think you can stretch far enough to win the coin you really want? If it's not a crazy price, that's what you should do. Anything else is a bonus.
The worst is to not have enough reserves for the one you really want because you purchased something not as worthwhile. The other ones sound like you can get them cheap but are not as special.
Hang in there, Keets. You might like the money in your jeans more than you will like the coin., You do not have to be that crazy. If the price is right bid on it........otherwise just pass.
OINK
I'd stretch and do both assuming the early stuff sold reasonably but that's just me....there are no in betweens in the way I roll.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
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Let the Stacks coins go. If they aren’t super special then they aren’t worth losing the other coin over. If you then don’t win the Heritage coin, well you have the funds tucked aside for the next auction down the road.
Not true at all. You would walk away with the money that you would have otherwise spent.
There will always be other auctions that have coins that you can't live without.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Let the Stacks coins go. If they aren’t super special.......................................then don’t win the Heritage coin, well you have the funds tucked aside for the next auction down the road.
I think this is the strategy that I will try in a modified fashion.
right now there aren't bids on anything in either auction. fortunately, they both fall on a Monday so the weekend before the Stack's auction I should have a better idea about prices. I mulled things over after I posted the thread and will "watch" two items in the Stack's sale with an understanding about whether the Heritage item will be too high already.
it's interesting that the things I'm chasing tend to be R-6 and above, so they don't appear often. the one in Heritage's sale is the first time I have seen one listed.
I always go for the one that is special.... the others will usually come around again.... and, if you get outbid on the special item, you still have the funds...Cheers, RickO
How liquid are the items in the earlier auction?
I have often had this conflict within a single auction. I resolve to save my powder for the coin I really want. Of course the coin I really want often goes for more than I think reasonable, so I come up with nothing in the end. Alas.
Well, I assume keets is not chasing after common date Morgan dollars, so it's a little more complicated than just waiting for the next time. With rare exonumia, sometimes there is no next time.
Wish I had the answer for you.
I agree with @oldabeintx .
I often encounter your predicament in just looking over lots in the same auction. The lot I really want is towards the end, but some other things Id like to own as dupes or for resale is at the beginning. I hate to see something I know is worth picking up go for "pennies on the dollar," because I'm saving my funds for the lot I really want later on, only to get crushed.
Only so much dough to go around, and forming a battle plan is part of the fun with any auction.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Good luck picking up some nice pieces @keets! You have a great collection so I'm guessing anything you're looking at is nice!
I hate to see something I know is worth picking up go for "pennies on the dollar," because I'm saving my funds for the lot I really want later on, only to get crushed. Only so much dough to go around, and forning a battle plan is part of the fun with any auction.
this is me in a nutshell.
I had this happen in last year's FUN auction. The lot I really wanted was after my "maybe" lot - well, the "maybe" lot sold for about half what I would have been willing to go. Then, on the "must have" lot, I went way past my limit and still got beat. It turns out the "maybe" lot was won by a notorious FleaBagger whose had it out there since then for five times what he paid for it. If I had known I couldn't win my "must have" lot, I would have definitely made the "maybe" lot go for a whole lot more. Oh well, on to the next auction....
Member ANA, SPMC, SCNA, FUN, CONECA
During the Don Gunnet sale of half dollar marriages I coveted one of the 1836 die marriages. Unfortunately it was one of the last pieces to sell in that collection. I sat through most of the sale and was tempted to break my vow to wait for that piece many times. I actually aggressively bid on another coin only to be the underbidder. When “my lot” came up I was fortunate enough to prevail at less than my max. It all worked out.......that time.
So, go with your heart but remember you can always borrow the money if you get both pieces!
A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.
A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.
Here's why I asked how liquid the items in the first auction are:
If you think they will sell for cheap, still put in your absolute best comfortable "low bid". Everyone gets lucky sometime. You may win at those bids.
Bid on the items you want in the later auction and if you win, put the other pieces you possibly won back on the market and make a few extra bucks to cover costs for the stuff you really want in your collection.
Get your doctor to put you on 20mg Paxil. It does wonders to quiet these silly desires. Worked for me.
well, my dilemma is probably solved. I decided to place what would be my top bid on the medal in the latest auction and it was passed up, still two weeks distant from the sale. I can't know for certain, but it is likely that the buyer will be holding the medal for a long time.
Awe tee on eee us is a turrible disease.
fixed!! that explains why I couldn't find it using a search.........................DOH.
I was going to suggest figure your max bids and if you win some in the first auction, you have a week to come up with cash (by selling stuff) for the next.
But it sounds like there will be no purchases in the first?
dave, the lot I was most interested in was in the second auction so now I can focus on the first one.
Personally, I would always just leave the low-ball bid on the earlier stuff. If I get it, I can flip it. If I don't, no harm on the auction I want.
But I'm with @Coinstartled "Never saw a coin I had to have"
Very few coins are actually scarce. And even fewer coins that are in a "blue collar" budget would actually qualify as "scarce" or "rare".
Very few coins are actually scarce. And even fewer coins that are in a "blue collar" budget would actually qualify as "scarce" or "rare".
you should try collecting SC$'s.