Shady bidding in online auction?

christopher_gallagher

I have bought several lots in the last week through Global Auctioneers/ Global Auctions. They were all "no reserve" and in five of them I left a bid on the book up to about 25% of the list price. My bid was successful in every case, at my maximum, so as long as the goods arrive and are as described I should have no cause for complaint. However, it seems highly improbable that in five separate lots the bidding should trot merrily up to my max and then go no further. Is this just chance or are they at it?

martindow

christopher_gallagher said:

I have bought several lots in the last week through Global Auctioneers/ Global Auctions. They were all "no reserve" and in five of them I left a bid on the book up to about 25% of the list price. My bid was successful in every case, at my maximum, so as long as the goods arrive and are as described I should have no cause for complaint. However, it seems highly improbable that in five separate lots the bidding should trot merrily up to my max and then go no further. Is this just chance or are they at it?

Ebay works differently to other auctions in storing your bid and raising it only as necessary to beat other people's bids.  Usually in auctions you make a bid of say £50.  If someone bids higher they will buy the lot but if you are the only bidder you will get it for the £50 that you offered. 

gwynlas

An auctioneer tries to get the best price for each lot if you leave a bid then they can start with that rather than zero and if no one is bidding against you then you win.

theoretica

It depends on the auction, but all the ones I have left an absentee bid at work like ebay - but only above the reserve or starting price.  Some auctions that also take online bids will advertise their starting point, but not all.  If you attend an auction in person the auctioneer doesn't start at £1 for something with a £10k estimate, but might start at £8k, maybe drop to £6k and if nobody bids then it goes unsold. If there was only one bidder, they should get it for the starting price, not 1p. 

mrcol1000

 I am not saying they are shady but they were set up out of the remains of TLH Auctioneers which went bankrupt. Used to bid regularly at TLH where the bids would go up as soon as you bidded and go for your losing bids once you gave up. The items would then be back in the auction the following week where the same would happen. 

Also I would check their fees. Also if you intend to have delivered, their packaging fee can be very high on top of the delivery fee. Also if you didn't view the item and going on the photo they show (especially if it is a stock photo) then you will be disappointed.

I used them a few times when they started up as Global but no more. Experience with TLH taught me how to not be ripped off. It was their high "packaging" fee when the item was just sent in the box it came in that put me off them. 

bris

martindow said:

christopher_gallagher said:

I have bought several lots in the last week through Global Auctioneers/ Global Auctions. They were all "no reserve" and in five of them I left a bid on the book up to about 25% of the list price. My bid was successful in every case, at my maximum, so as long as the goods arrive and are as described I should have no cause for complaint. However, it seems highly improbable that in five separate lots the bidding should trot merrily up to my max and then go no further. Is this just chance or are they at it?

Ebay works differently to other auctions in storing your bid and raising it only as necessary to beat other people's bids.  Usually in auctions you make a bid of say £50.  If someone bids higher they will buy the lot but if you are the only bidder you will get it for the £50 that you offered. 

Thats not the way it works, auction sites use the same process as Ebay. 

I used to be a frequent visitor to live auctions and they are all rigged. The take bids off the wall to try and reach reserve price no reserve price no sale so they take it to one bid below and hope a mug bids for real or they have someone on the hook and bid it till it hits reserve.

Shill bidding is the likely culprit here, they will know your max bid and take you to it.

Thrugelmir

mrcol1000 said:

 Used to bid regularly at TLH where the bids would go up as soon as you bidded and go for your losing bids once you gave up. The items would then be back in the auction the following week where the same would happen. 

Not hitting the reserve price?  

RFW

Most auctioneers will be honest with your bids left, some won't.

You may want to be wary of some you're dealing with.

I won't mention any names... Feel free to PM me, I used to be in that business.

RFW

bris said:

I used to be a frequent visitor to live auctions and they are all rigged. The take bids off the wall to try and reach reserve price no reserve price no sale so they take it to one bid below and hope a mug bids for real or they have someone on the hook and bid it till it hits reserve.

Shill bidding is the likely culprit here, they will know your max bid and take you to it.

Not all, that would be too many. There are some who will have genuine bankrupt stock that has to be sold to the higher bidder. Some auction houses buy their own stock and sell it on. So if they've paid £20 for something they won't want to accept winning bids of £10. Some will sell for others with reserve prices. There aren't too many I know of who push prices up just for the sake of it.
I won't comment on individual auction houses unless it's to vouch for them.