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Dash1
·I’ve had to leave an absentee bid a few times over the years and every time paid my top bid. Very irksome, but not surprising. It’s best avoided if you can, or if you have to don’t bother with a high bid imo.
Auction house potentially made me overbid myself, can I request transparency? ~2000+ euro overpay
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Mark020
··not the sharpest pencil in the ΩF drawerif there was a bidder (or bidders) in the room
Granted: I won a couple of auctions with a bid on the lower estimate - which ended up being bargains - but I also won a PP which, if I would have been in the room, (I assume) could have won at a much lower price because I think the lower estimate would never have been reached otherwise.
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aprax
·if I would have been in the room, (I assume) could have won at a much lower price because I think the lower estimate would never have been reached otherwise.
This assumption would not be correct in most instances. All auctions house terms and conditions state that the auctioneer may put forward bids on behalf of the consignor as long as the reserve is not reached. So if the reserve for instance was 2900 and the low estimate was 3000 auctioneers could start bidding at, say, 2500 and raise the bid in stages up until 2800 without having any real bis in their books but would have to stop at 2800 and pass the lot if no real bid of 2900 came forward. Your assumption would only be valid if the auctioneer was given by the consignor discretion to sell below the reserve. In those cases, the auctioneer might be able to sell at 2800 if a real bid came forward. Absentee bids usually have to reach the low estimate, so if you left an absentee bid you would have bid at least 3000 and the auctioneer would have to sell to you at 2900 at least and thus you would miss the chance to profit from his discretion and get the lot for 2800.
In my mind the OP is wholly responsible for his high bid and there is no proof at all that the auctioneer behaved fraudulently. On the contrary, the fact that he raised his high bid from 3500 to 4100 and the lot was hammered down for 3500 would be an indication that there was no chandelier bidding going on at all.
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wrist time
·I personally bid 2X market values for watches I care about, but in the past I only once met competition
Not to be rude but it seems you got too comfortable using this strategy. Yes it's possible the auction house is being dishonest but as someone else said it's also possible you came against some using the same strategy. Someone who really wanted the watch, or someone who was trying to impress a date, or someone with more money than brains. The more times you do the more likely it is to happen.
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bombaywalla
·Have you even read his post?
He asks exactly one question - can you request information regarding competing bids. Regardless of the reply, which might be no, that's a legitimate question. Your answer, in contrast, misses the point completely and saying that you didnt want to be blunt doesn't make it any less so. How is "do your homework before bidding" helping in any way?
If bid 1500-2000 euros the OP would know that there was no way he would have overpaid. On Auction day if he was outbid, raise his bid or walk away.
Why was this strategy not used?
The OP tipped his hand right at the beginning by bidding 3500 euros & the auctioneer took for him/OP for all his money. isn't this Rule 101 for bidding -- never tip your hand at the start of bidding?
In some later post the OP wrote he will pay now & will sue later. Sue a foreign entity & hope to gain something from that? Who's he kidding?
So, how does "do your homework before bidding" helping in any way? -- it helps you not overbid when you make you 1st bid esp since you are (1) not bidding live, (2) bidding on a foreign entity website, (3) bidding in a currency more expensive than your own, (4) reading the terms & conditions which would have told him whether or not he could see a bid list rather than coming to OF & asking us if he could get the auction house to reveal the bids like we know that particular auction house rules? --- do your homework before bidding....
I agree with the last poster/member @Mark020 that the OP is fully responsible for his actions.
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