Stamp Buying Emotions

I typically like to leave emotions out of purchases, but often find a few that linger... This is for auction houses, more so than ebay items. Am I alone?

FOMO - this is the pre buy emotion. Generally, I talk it into myself, that the rarity I am targeting - I may never see this up for grabs again. I feel as though a popular dealer will snag it up, and put it up for 'ransom' at double the auction price.

Post auction - I typically set a hard limit as to what I want to spend. I try to avoid going over that. Two scenarios result here. I stop bidding at my amount, and the item sells for the "next bid over". My FOMO is realized. The second is I exceed my amount and win... If I exceed and lose, I am not usually as emotionally strained. If I exceed and win, by a significant amount I blame myself for poor budgeting, perhaps guilt.

I feel an overally thrill on auction day, but feel the seconds needed to hit bid, to be a bit emotional.

I just missed every item I vied for in the Harmer Schau auction, which I was waiting patiently for, for months.

FOMO?

Peter

Fear of missing out

I must say ebay is good in creating that fomo emotion in buyers. Sometimes it is the good feeling of being able to buy a good high value stamp at 5% or less of cv which spurs me to buy more.

> being able to buy a good high value stamp at 5% or less of cv which spurs me to buy more.

I wonder how long this era is going to last. Yes condition is everything, but 5%-20% is a discounting that will either force catalog down, or prices up. Great time to be an accumulating collector!

Rismoney, my latest posting is an example of a stamp costing way below catalogue. The reason why I appreciate these embossed stamps so much is because each stamp had to be painstakingly hand printed onto the paper, a much more laborious task than surface printing.

https://goscf.com/t/65638

'Rismoney

I can't speak to the SANs best strategy to avoid FOMO other then a real big mega bid by an Agent. I hear folks say ebay is very competitive. I call BS! SANs is Major Legues and ebay is a hunt and peck (small ball )game to winning that can be done by the masses. Sucks to swinging hard after being very patient and missing every time. I know it well myself.


I terms of ebay, I suggest you place the item on watch list and do nothing but wait the days needed and set a tickler message for 5 minutes in advance of closing. At the last 3 seconds of the auction you must place your 1 and only best bid (I use best judgement on reasonable final selling price and add your 'margin of crazy" based on "FOMO" for the rarity targeted.) If it sells the other bidder has "Paid up" and I feel that is my "Turkish revenge" and helps me live with my FOMO.

Good luck sheeding that FOMO we collector all get to various degrees.

There's FOMO and just plain old missing out.

Last year, an auction house which shall remain nameless failed to record my bids on two lots. When the prices realised were posted I saw the hammer price, knew that my maximum bid far exceeded that price and naturally felt quite thrilled at winning.

Imagine my horror when the invoice was received to see these two lots were not included. Only after enquiring did I discover that the bids were not placed on the books.

Apoplexy is not a strong enough word to describe how I initially felt but there was no point unloading on the auction house. Besides, doing your block can work very much against you.

The only thing to do was accept the situation gracefully and move on. The auction house went above and beyond to try to rectify their error but in the end they couldn't secure the lots for me. I did win one lot in that auction which was vital to the collection I have been forming so it's not all bad

Spit the dummy did ya.

Pennyblackie.

Two years ago I would have agreed this low percent % of CV was a big motivator for bidding. I would hunt these out in auction. After a few returned certs I learned some sellers are deceptive about flaws and many have tricks of the trades like coil fakes (separate topic). So today a high CV does not cause me FOMO anymore. Leaving "Value" on the table is my fear (ie. a nice $250 item sells sub $100 say). Or FOMO from missing the the 'once in a life". (Note just introduced to SANs so my definition of this has been blown open now! Priced accordingly I'm seeing )

Yeh only for a moment or three

I need to watch more SANs videos (rewatch) as I don't the issue/ joke. Just being honest.

Hi Bobby

A WA auction did the same thing to me with a large lot of Aus KGV's. Not usually in the emotional area with stamp buying but thinking I had one great lot of KGV's at a great price got me when it was not recorded so I missed out totally. The auction house owner could not care less. That happened about ten years ago. Will never do business with him again. It was just not good enough.

Have a ribbon attached to my dummy and pin it to the top area of my shirt.

Similar thing happened to me, I have a screen shot of my winning bid,
yet the items were sold to another bidder $4 higher.
The dealer ignored me.

I agree with your opinion, I know from experience, the feeling of loss dissipates over time, give it a week, perhaps two, and I have forgotten all about it.
There are always other stamps to excite.

Maybe use of the SANs fee based 1% bidding Agent service would help avoid this problem moving forward?

We all need to forgive or it will poison you as a person.

But to trust is something else again!