Proxibid tips please

The local auctioneer has gone to on-line auctions for may of the auctions he conducts. He uses Proxibid. I am going to particpate in one for the 1st time that ends tomorrow. I have this feeling that everyone holds back and then there is this mad rush in the last 5 minutes of bidding. As an example, there is a transport disk there that has what I think is a fair value of $1000. Currently, with 16 hours to go , the bid is $250. Am I right or wrong? Should I be somewhere with VERY GOOD internet when it becomes 5 minutes before the lot closes?

bid what u wanna pay. it will only take as much of your bid as it takes to buy it!
we use them all the time!

I've bought a few things this fall on internet only auctions. The ones I have been at have had a lot of prices go up within the last 10 minutes or so. If a bid comes in with less than 5 minutes to close another 5 or ten minutes gets added to the close time. I've seen items take 45 minutes over stated closing time before the bidding ended. I don't think most bidders get too serious until they have to bid or loose it.

Most online auctions when I've bid on stuff usually if it gets a bid within the last couple minutes of that lot closing, it will extend for another few minutes. Some are a one extend all extend, which means all lots are extended so if you're bidding on multiple items you have time to bid on other items before they close. Most refer to that as "soft close" so if it's set to close at 6pm it could be several hours before it actually ends.

(quoted from post at 16:47:47 12/30/20) The local auctioneer has gone to on-line auctions for may of the auctions he conducts. He uses Proxibid. I am going to particpate in one for the 1st time that ends tomorrow. I have this feeling that everyone holds back and then there is this mad rush in the last 5 minutes of bidding. As an example, there is a transport disk there that has what I think is a fair value of $1000. Currently, with 16 hours to go , the bid is $250. Am I right or wrong? Should I be somewhere with VERY GOOD internet when it becomes 5 minutes before the lot closes?

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Bid your max now. Proxibid will bid on your behalf to your max. If the other guys max is more than your max, he will get it. If not, you will. Do not overthink it. If he is running the online sale in conjunction with a live sale, sniping will not work as the lag will make you lose every time. I learned that lesson on a sale where I BADLY wanted something and was willing to pay a fair bit more than what it sold for. If it is an online auction, sniping does not work because the site uses an auto extend on items, which means there are no last second bids. I have seen items go on auto extend for an hour or longer because two snipers kept bidding last second.

charlie; do some studying on how proxibids work. most of those bids coming in are proxibids!

Best thing for you to do is to bid your maximum and let Proxibid bid for you,then watch the auction on line to get a feel about how things work.No different from an in person auction really,just don't have to drive miles and stand in the cold and not get an item.Also read ALL conditions and term of the auction for things like buyers premium,pick up time and dates,if you'll get help to load out,etc,etc.

thank you guys, that clears some things up and makes sense.

Is it possible to "snipe" like you can on fleabay, that can be fun sometimes!

Another tip to consider. Do NOT get "auction fever."

Figure your maximum bid including any buyer's premium, tax, and transportation. Make a considered and realistic estimate of what you are willing to pay for the item. Then, place that bid with Proxibid and sit back and wait to see if you win.

Always bear in mind that whoever is willing to pay the most will win the bid. Even if another bidder wins by only a small minimum bid, if you come back with an even higher bid, it turns into a bidding war. You may win the item, but you really just end up paying more than you wanted to. If somebody wants to pay more, let them! Don't get drawn into bidding more than you were originally willing to pay.

My 2 cents. I usually place my max bid 5 minutes or so before the end of the auction. I find most people just bid in small increments. So if you place a max bid early it just pushes the price up.

The auctions I have been involved with recently, there have only been 2-3 active bidders at the end.

The biggest challenge I have had is when you are interested in more than one item on the sale, but item A is the one that would make the trip worthwhile. While item A is going through the extension period, B, C, and D sell. Makes it a bit challenging some times.

I've use it a couple of times for auctions at a nearby yard. I'll go there a few days before and look the stuff over. If you put a maximum bid in ahead of time you can't up it during the live bidding. Missed out on a MoCoa because I decided to go higher but when it hit my max I clicked again but it went to someone else.

Be sure and read the terms and conditions posted by the auctioneer. Watch out for the following comments I have seen posted by Proxibid:

PLEASE READ: At the request of the auction company, this auction permits bids to be placed by the auctioneer, an employee of the auctioneer, or the seller or an agent on the seller's behalf. While Proxibid's Unified User Agreement prohibits this behavior, in accordance with UCC 2-328, this auction is permitted to engage in this activity by providing this clear disclosure to you, the bidder.
PLEASE READ: This auction company has requested and been granted access to see all bids placed including any maximum pre-bids. This auction is permitted to engage in this activity by providing this clear disclosure to you, the bidder.

If you see this disclosure, you need to bid accordingly.

A few weeks ago there was a large consignment auction in my area SIL was bidding on an item computer lost it tried two different computer to hook up no go proxie bid failed that day. My daughter was working as clerk as it was a live auction also. I guess there was over 100 proxie bid auctions that day.
Pete

I used proxibid once on an item that I'm sure would not have bought much if I had attended the auction live. Naturally it went to my highest bid, if I had been there or left a lower maximum I probably could have saved a couple hundred dollars.

(quoted from post at 03:30:17 12/31/20) I used proxibid once on an item that I'm sure would not have bought much if I had attended the auction live. Naturally it went to my highest bid, if I had been there or left a lower maximum I probably could have saved a couple hundred dollars.

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SMS, were you happy to pay what you bid? If not, why did you bid higher than you wanted to pay? Admittedly, I have only used proxibid once (used other sites a fair bit), and I had the same experience, but I bid what I was willing to pay, and was happy with the whole experience. Had I not used it, I would not have gotten the item as I could not get there in time to bid live.

If you try to outsmart the system, you're going to lose. Enter the maximum bid you REALLY are willing to pay (as opposed to what you'd LIKE to pay), and sit back. Snipers only win when other bidders underbid.

I think the advice you're getting is good. Bid your maximum and wait and see how it plays out. If the auction has a "soft close" or end, I forget how they say it, the bidding will continue after the cutoff time. Not like ebay.

Main difference between live auction and online for me is that you can bid any time. When you're at a live sale, the auctioneer is not going to get your bid with two other people battling it out. You'll have to wait until one of them drops out.

For prices, there are some good deals and bad ones--like with live sales. Items that I thought would fetch little money actually sold high, but then I snagged an almost new boom pole for my tractor for less than half of what it would sell for new. You never know.

You can always play around with bidding and place a few bids on an item you know is going to fetch big money. You may be the high bidder for awhile, but not for long. It'll get bumped up. Don't get carried away or you might end up with that thing. You can always put items on your "watch" list, so you can see where the bidding is when you log on. Kind of like standing around at a live sale and watching the bidding.

Lastly, if it's a three or four day sale, no harm in waiting until the last day to check the bidding and place your bid. As I mentioned, you can bid any time.

Good luck,

Gerrit

Is this online only or a live auction with online bidding too? All good advice given. I will add , the first time I seriously bid on an online auction,(not proxibid) trying to wait till the last minute will be depending on how well the online auction system keeps up and how good of internet service you have. If you are on some sort of dial- up or using wireless you may have issues at the worst possible time. In my case it lost me a tractor I really wanted but I did end up with another one that I wanted at a good price.

I have seen items "sell" at a decent price only to be listed again by the same seller in a month or 2. In the auction terms it is stated this is not permitted but the same sellers do this all the time. Other times the buyer shows up and the item is not quite like the listing states so after much arguing the seller agrees to let the buyer off and relist.

Just a week or 2 back I was bidding on an item. 10 minutes before the end time my computer locked up and 5 minutes before end time my internet completely quit. I had told a couple of friends and family members what I was bidding on so they were signed in to watch and their system did the same. I got another chance because I just saw the item was relisted last night for a sale in 3 weeks, with no explanation.

I will be putting in my maximum bid early and let it go to the highest bidder. If I win, OK. If I miss out, I did not need it bad enough.

(quoted from post at 02:39:55 12/31/20) Be sure and read the terms and conditions posted by the auctioneer. Watch out for the following comments I have seen posted by Proxibid:

PLEASE READ: At the request of the auction company, this auction permits bids to be placed by the auctioneer, an employee of the auctioneer, or the seller or an agent on the seller's behalf. While Proxibid's Unified User Agreement prohibits this behavior, in accordance with UCC 2-328, this auction is permitted to engage in this activity by providing this clear disclosure to you, the bidder.
PLEASE READ: This auction company has requested and been granted access to see all bids placed including any maximum pre-bids. This auction is permitted to engage in this activity by providing this clear disclosure to you, the bidder.

If you see this disclosure, you need to bid accordingly.

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I am on proxid quite often.
When I see that disclosure posted, I ignore that auction at all costs.
The auctioneer is nothing more than an admitted crook.
If he can see what the maximum online submitted bids are on an item, yoo can bet that the "sell price" of that item will be the highest bid out there for the item.
Won't matter if the internet system was working that day or not.