How to Bid at Auctions

Live auctions are adrenaline pumping, shopping experiences. For a novice, it can be quite intimidating to enter the bidding fray. With a few tips, you will be waving your paddle with the best of them. This method of sale has been used for selling everything imaginable. Even before online auctions like Ebay, there have been many variations including silent, Dutch, sealed bid, reserve and no reserve auctions. The most common kind of auction is the English auction. I grew up helping my dad, an auctioneer, in English style auctions so I will tell you how bidding works in this style.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bidding paddle
• Good poker face
• Self-restraint
• Money

1. Register
   For most auctions, you will need to get bidding paddle with a number on it. To get this, you will have to register with the cashier and may have to show ID or give a refundable deposit or leave your credit card. This is to ensure that you pay before you leave with your item and to show that you do have enough money to participate.

2. 

   Watch and listen
   Each auctioneer is a bit different. Listen for a while before getting into the action to get used to the auctioneer. Otherwise you may end up bidding much more than you thought you were.

3. Buyer Beware--No Returns
   Check out the goods carefully before buying. Depending on the goods, you may be able to do this well before the auction. This is the case with real estate in which case you can search the title and deed. Most sales such for a car auction or collectibles give a few hours before the auction to look over goods. If you come late, sometimes you can look among the unsold items during the auction.

4. 

   Choose paddle movement
   In most auctions, bidders do not wildly wave their paddles. Many bidders try to be discreet so as to keep people from running up the bid and making them pay more than necessary out of spite. The auctioneer learns to recognize the signals of regular bidders. It may be a paddle in front of the chest, a slight head nod, or raising the hand to shoulder level. Just make sure you are noticed and your bid taken.

5. Buying the lot, one piece, bidder takes all?
   If the auctioneer is selling several like items, be careful to hear whether you are bidding one price for the whole lot; bidding on one item; or bidding for one item but buying the whole lot. For example, if 4 dining chairs are for sale, are you bidding $100 for all 4 chairs for a total price of $100 ($25 per chair) OR are you bidding $100 for 1 chair but “bidder takes all” meaning you have to take all 4 chairs for a total of $400.

6. Stay within limits
   Auctions are fast paced and exciting. Auctioneers are skilled at trying to get the most out of an item for the seller. To keep your head, you need to decide ahead of time what your maximum bid will be and make sure you don’t go above that.

Tips & Warnings

• Beware of:
• People” running up the bid” on you. This means they have do not want the item, but bid on it just to make you have to pay more. Don’t let on about how much you really want an itme.
• Bidder Takes all. Are you bidding on 1 price for all the items in the lot? Buying just 1 item? Or bidding on 1 item but forced to take the entire lot

Resources

• How to buy foreclosed homes

[momoftwingirls]

on 12/2/2008 Auctions are sometimes fun. I have never been to have live auction with the paddle, but I have gone to two silent auctions and bid online of course.

The scary thing about online auctions is, it can become addictive and before you know it, you are out of a lot of money you did not even know you had.

[iridescent]

on 12/1/2008 I always wondered how real life auctions worked.