Bidding Strategies
Winning an auction may seem like all luck and no skill, but there are numerous strategies that even a novice bidder can apply to increase their chances of beating out the competition. Believe it or not, many frequent auction goers are professionals, and they have developed a specific set of skills to enhance their odds of winning their desired items.
Aggressive Bidding
Bidding wars are often seen as a trap to run up the price with inexperienced bidders. However, one can use this to their own advantage by aggressively, but strategically placing bids against other bidders in a way that makes you appear as the dominant force in the auction. One of these strategies is the bid jump. Instead of following the auctioneers bidding pattern, say an increase of $10 per bid, a bidder can call out their own bid that is slightly above what would be the next step. For example, if a bid is going from $10 to $20 to $30, a bidder can call out a bid of $45 instead of the anticipated $40 that others are expecting. This sudden jump in price can throw others off. Using this strategy for multiple bids in a row can give others the impression that you are serious to win and can give you the advantage to knock others out who are less proactive with their bids. Just remember not to pass your self set limit, as this strategy only works if you are completely in control of the bids, otherwise you could get caught up in a bidding war.
The All-In Gamble
Another pricing strategy that can establish dominance within an auction is a substantial price jump. Going âall inâ to your maximum bid can often scare others off who are not dedicated to the item up for grabs. A sudden jump in price can make other bidders nervous enough to back out if they are not seriously committed to the item. A substantial price change can also throw out smaller players who are not necessarily true competitors but instead are only hoping to get lucky with a really low
Bid Timing
Timing of bid placement is also an essential strategy to consider when placing bids. These strategies are much more helpful for online auctions with a set ending date and time, however, they can still be applied to live auctions with some additional changes. An extremely effective online bidding technique is bid sniping, this is when the bidder places a winning bid only a few seconds before the auction is over. This is in hopes that others wont have a chance to react to this number and comeback with another bid. This is an effective strategy on online only auction sites such as eBay.
Auction squatting deploys and inverse strategy. It is based on bidding early on and addressing competing bids often as they appear. This strategy empowers the bidder as they are able to analyze and react to the other bidders actions and make an informed reactive decision to competition instead of gambling with an aggressive type strategy. This strategy can also be employed in a live auction if one is trying to stay under the radar in heavy competition bids.
Utilizing one or multiple of the above strategies can give bidders the slight advantage they may need to win an auction. Â Even a small advantage can make the difference between throwing off the competition and losing out on an amazing deal. Â At the very least, being aware of some of the potential bidding strategies that auction goes use can bring additional insight and the ability to understand how others are winning auctions.