The 5 Stages Of Competitive Auction Bidding...

Amazingly similar to the 5 stages of grief... experienced today during the Kelleher auction.

1. Denial. "I can't believe that someone wants this lot as bad as I do. That's simply not possible!"

2. Anger. "How DARE they bid me up this far! This lot is MINE, dammit!"

3. Bargaining. "Ok, if you just let me win this one, I won't buy anything else for the next 3 months."

4. Depression. "Man, I can't believe that I'm not going to get this lot. How bad does this guy want it? I sat through the session just to be outbid at the end of it all."

5. Acceptance. "Well, I might wind up broke, but I can deal with that if I get this lot. He who dies the farthest in debt wins."

( for the humour-impaired.)

If they keep you from bidding next time they win. Run them up and smile.
I have always believed if you enter someone's domain they will bid whatever it takes to hurt you. Learned as a participant at a live Rasdale auction many years ago with buyers for big companies.

Yeah, as much as it offends my inner cheapskate, I've come to realize that when I encounter a once-in-forever item, sometimes I just have to suck it up and pay the piper (unless it truly goes beyond my means no matter how far I stretch, like a 5- or 6-figure item; just not possible).

As many others have said before me, most collecting regrets end up not being ones you acquire, but rather the ones you let get away; the ones you don't stretch for.

There's nothing quite like the disappointment of being the underbidder.." D**n!I knew he was have tapped at that last bid!"

I cannot count the number of times I've been the underbidder to Eric on ebay. I just ease the pain by telling myself that with his bucks, his max bid was probably 10x what I could have bid anyway.

Great post, revenuecollector.

I experienced a different version of grief..... I woke up this morning and forgot to place my bids in at Kelleher before I went to work. Oh well.

FWIW - I will say that almost every item that I "overpaid" for at auction, held its value or appreciated prior to my selling my collection years back. The bargain stuff that I bought on the cheap, I lost money on almost every one.

I remember one sale, where I placed a bid with an agent of about 10 times what I felt that it should realize. It was a ridiculous one of a kind item. I wasn't even the under-bidder. I'll never forget that one.

A wise old sage once told me about the only cover he ever saw from a certain post office in a county he collects. He walked away from it at auction. He has not seen another one in 40 years of looking. He said, son, you can replace money. You can work more hours or sell things. You can't replace one of a kind items. If you see it, swing for the fences. You might end up spending the next 40 years of your life regretting it.

Yea I went through that this past week. Bidding on several specialized albums from a huge collection. I was fortunate enough to get 50% of what I wanted but 2 albums I got outbid on hurt because one had some of the best items I have seen offered recently and needed for my collection. But thats how it goes. I also realized many years ago when I was a rare book dealer that even if I missed out on something another one will eventually come along if I am patient and worked hard to find it - this was in the pre and early internet days.

Hi

I bid on what I think I can win it at. I do not win much, but still fun.

Stampmaster

Regret for forgetting to bid on an online auction because one got distracted by something else and finding out later that the item sold for next to nothing to someone else.

Or finding a listing... after the auction closed. Sometimes it is enough to make you cry.

I too suffer from forgetting to go back and bid on things, but that is one way of staying in (or closer to) budget

Not trying to knock the wind out of the sails of this topic, but I've personally been in the same position as most posters, and I've eventually learned one thing:

I take great satisfaction out of owning the things that I do have, rather than lamenting about the things that I don't.

Jim

Hi Jim

I agree, "owning the things that I do have" is more interesting. Stories about the stamps I own. The chase is sometimes more fun to me than actual ownership.

Stampmaster