FUN auctions rigged against eBay high bidders?

uofa1285 · January 10, 2004 11:21AM

Hmmmm....I won a total of 5 Heritage auctions via eBay early proxy bidding - each one at EXACTLY my Max Bid...coincidence, or were my max bids somehow advertised/posted at the auction for any number of parties to see and possibly push my bid up to its max?

I am not usually the cynical type but what are the odds?

Doug

Russ · January 10, 2004 11:25AM

Winning all five at exactly your max does sound a bit supicious. Did you bid on more than five auctions?

Russ, NCNE

Mark · January 10, 2004 11:25AM

Doug:

I can't necessarily answer for eBay bidding, but I sat in on the bidding for a few minutes. A couple of times the auction was opened at a book bid, there was a floor or an ebay bid, and then the book bid once again. This process clearly indicates that the auction was not opened at the highest possible book bid--it was opened at the book bid that was higher than all the other book bids. However, that said, I do not know if early eBay bidding is then entered into Heritage's book bids or if early eBay bidding is somehow kept separate.

Mark

uofa1285 · January 10, 2004 11:35AM

Russ - yes, I lost several bids as well. Some by a bunch and some by a tie-breaker of some sort, since my bid equaled a floor bid.

Mark - that makes me feel a ton better, thanks. It appears then that it is coincidence so I guess I have a pretty good eye!

MANOCOINS - yeah, I should have gone directly to their site and saved the juice. More money than brains but the problem is I don't have much money!

Thanks,

Doug

lava · January 10, 2004 11:42AM

Hey Doug, I was in on a bunch of stuff happening today, including a few high end stuff that triggered a few phone calls, and from everything I witnessed, everything was legit. I won maybe 1 out of 3, and in a number of cases was the high internet bidder by a wide margin, only to LOSE to some insane floor bidding. I guess I would have felt like you, except I ended up getting outbid, and some of the phone calls I just passed as I felt as I bid aggressively both early on and late in the game.

rainbowroosie · January 10, 2004 11:51AM

I sat through hundreds of lots and noted nothing unusual...seemed well run to me.

Lakesammman · January 10, 2004 12:00PM

The only people who know the high bid and the underbid when bidding starts is the auction company. You have to trust them on that or just not bid. There were quite a number of lots that opened with no additional bidding and sold "to the book".

uofa1285 · January 10, 2004 12:45PM

Thanks all for your comments.

Doug

Conder101 · January 10, 2004 7:30PM

<< <i>I lost several bids as well. Some by a bunch and some by a tie-breaker of some sort, since my bid equaled a floor bid. >>

This strikes me as odd. If the floo bid tied yours then you should have won the lot. Don't they always say that in the case of a tie bid the win goes to the earliest bid? That's he reason they give when they tell you to bid early.

Robgetty · January 10, 2004 11:21PM

I've lost on a tie before. I was told it was how the bid increments worked;
sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. If there are 2 on-line bids of
the same amount, then the earliest one wins. However, if your bid was $900
and the next highest bid was $800 (assuming a $25 increment), they start
the bidding at $825; one increment over the 2nd highest bid. Then on the
floor, lets assume that they get a live bid of $850. Now they raise the bid to
$875 due to your $900 bid still being active. Then the live bidder goes to $900.
They can't bid $925 on your behalf since that is more than your max, so you
lose with a "tie" bid.

Does that agree with what everyone else understands as the procedure?

sonofagunk · January 10, 2004 11:47PM

Robgetty,
that is how I understand it too. I actually lost even though I had a HIGHER bid. The same thing happened that you described, only when the bid hit $900 by the floor dealer, my max was $910 and it was NOT enough of a bid increment so I lost. Little disappointing, but understandable none the less

sonofagunk · January 10, 2004 11:48PM

also Doug, you should bid through the heritagecoin.com site. the buyer's fee is only 15% and it is 20% on ebay. Only use ebay if you want to "bid live"

-sog

Lakesammman · January 11, 2004 12:42AM

Your $900 would be the prior bid and the floor bidder would have to beat it. Sometimes they throw the live guy a bone and sell it for $910.

But don't forget, they ALWAYS prefer to sell to the sight seen buyer since there is no return. So, it wouldn't surprise me at all if they sold the coin, on a tie, to the floor. On the other hand, I saw numerous lots where the "book" called "prior bid" and the floor had to beat it and they did, legitimately.

Conder101 · January 11, 2004 1:42AM

<< <i>. On the other hand, I saw numerous lots where the "book" called "prior bid" and the floor had to beat it and they did, legitimately. >>

That's always been the way I have seen it too. If the floor tied the book bid, the book announced that it had the prior bid and then the floor had to beat it. In cases where the book had a higher bid, but less than a full increment, the person handling the absentee bids would announce "Book at 910" (Assuming the floor was at $900 with a $25 increment.) and the floor would have to go an increment over that, or at least to $925, which would have been the next increment. There is no way the book should lose a tie or with a bid higher than the highest floor bid.

FUN auctions rigged against eBay high bidders?

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