Your favourite auction bidding strategy...

[Nick M.K. 574]

Live or Online auctions...

How and when do you place your bids?? What do you do when the call comes for the "Provisionals"?

I personally used to wait until the last moment to wave a catalogue (or my phone) but these days they call so many bids off the walls that the price jumps £700-£800 before the first real bidder joins the party. 

I would put a bid straight in provided they start low enough and will wait a few extra seconds between bids to slow things down a little if I think we are still away from the reserve. This is slightly tricky in UKCGR sales as their reserves are too loose. I would also pick a place in the hall where most bidders won't see me but the auctioneer sees me straight away. 

[Arfur Dealy 823]

I usually get a bid in fairly early otherwise it will be run up, once I've placed a bid I normally start to walk out, letting the auctioneer I'm prepared to walk. The thing is they know me know and I tend to be lucky and buy underbook.....

[ExCouncilJobsworth 27]

My max Im prepared to pay online usually pre sale. It saves the bidding wars 

It's a waste of time attending or viewing live online as the prices are sky high.

 

[Nick M.K. 574]

Comission bid? Dear oh dear... 

They will always bid up to that max or often start there so you end up missing it for £50 and missing out on the ££££ under book bargains. 

[Mark101 536]

Even Online, I like to sense the buzz around a particular car - i.e. let others be your gauge as to how good the car really is.  No one bidding or very slow, it is probably in a poor state, either mechanically or cosmetically, so no proxy bids here (unless I have been to see the car beforehand).

[Anglo9 26]

definitely in the bid early and try to slow it down camp.

Not that any sensible bidding seems to work at BCA anymore...

[trade vet 703]

If I was bidding and noticed that the other bidder was a private ( who are usually slow to bid) I have sometimes gone and stood next to them.Then whenever they made a bid,I would bid quickly and tell them to hurry up or they will lose it.This usually makes them uncomfortable and they freeze.This works best when there is more than one of them and they are conferring between bids.Another one we did was when you knew someone who was going to bid against you.In the early days of mobile phones when they were like bricks with a loud ring,I would just get a mate to ring the other guy during the bidding to try and put them off.It might have worked once or twice but I do recall getting told to F/off aswell.

[Lakeside 94]

I never go straight in as some auctioneers are a bit cheeky and if 5 bidders all raise their hand at say a £1000 initial bid instead of taking it as one bid they’ll count along the raised hands up to £1500. I’ve seen that a few times, wrong in my opinion.

[grant8064 219]

Always found the best thing is to slow the action right down, really slow and deliberate. I used to be an auctioneer and it really messes up your flow on the rostrum, often gets you wrong footed on a commission bid and sometimes makes other bidders think before acting rather than getting lost in the moment. When I used to sell I had a begrudging respect for dealers slowing me down/throwing me off rhythm. 

[DPF 18]

Hate auctioneers call bids of the walls. 

[trade vet 703]

Tip for newbies bidding at the block.Occasionally a clever auctioneer might bring down the hammer on your bid and then say ‘subject’ or ‘provisional’.If that happens go up to the rostrum and tell the auctioneer you have bought it.The fall of the hammer is a  binding contract.

[Tim H 16]

The Auctioneer's round here hate a dawdler...especially when reserve has been met that hammer is going down.

There are a few bidders  (always the same ones) who I've often seen complaining to the auctioneer after the hammers gone down and they've lost .... they get public short shrift from the rostrum. I guess after what Grant has said, that's the auctioneer showing who's boss and trying to maintain his rhythm.

Bidders who come in late just after I think I've nicked one and I end up spending another £2-300 before they drop out really do p155 me off.

More often than not I'll be in clear view of all if I'm bidding and I try to get in on the bids early and always say "thank you " to the auctioneer after I've won one..or a shake of the head and a walk to the next if I'm out.

[Rory RSC 596]

14 hours ago, Mark101 said:

Even Online, I like to sense the buzz around a particular car - i.e. let others be your gauge as to how good the car really is.  No one bidding or very slow, it is probably in a poor state, either mechanically or cosmetically, so no proxy bids here (unless I have been to see the car beforehand).

Same for me makes sense. How many times do you see something that looks nice and hear all proxies cancelled undeclared cat damage etc.

[metcars 397]

How do you guys deal with showing interest in a car without giving the game away?  I seem to be one of those guys that draws attention with anything i'm looking at. I like to arrive super early and do as many checks as possible. Then try not to linger on a car for too long. Helps to keep moving and arrive in the hall like a 'bandit'. Never been one for following a car into the hall with my hand on the roof! Lol

[Nick M.K. 574]

15 minutes ago, met said:

How do you guys deal with showing interest in a car without giving the game away?

At a place like Blackbushe it doesn't matter. There are so many cars and so many people that no one can keep tabs on everything like they can at Bedford for example. What I like to do is have a look under the bonnet when the car is started and all other "interested parties" are near it. I will let the bonnet drop (not slam it!) quite loudly and then will walk off very quickly as if I saw something that I didn't like. 

Or sometimes I will attract some interest on purpose :-) When I am with my wife (sometimes she drops me off at BCA and stays for an hour to show some interest in the business which is half hers) I will tell her very loudly and from some distance away "This is your car today, whatever it takes" and the look on some of the private punters that are checking the car (and some young dealers) is priceless. They will literally turn away, hands in their pockets towards the next car on their list...

What does everyone think of bids which are deliberately too high? 

Cap Clean £6500, Auctioneer starts with "Who's got five?" and someone raises six fingers to scare some people off on purpose???

[Mikey360 68]

I always find the guy who's trying to outbid me and stamp on his foot 

[BHM 994]

Does it matter?

Nowadays the auctioneer is either going to run the arse off them or usually there’ll be a sea of bidders’ hands anyway.

[metcars 397]

1 hour ago, Nick M.K. said:

At a place like Blackbushe it doesn't matter. There are so many cars and so many people that no one can keep tabs on everything like they can at Bedford for example. What I like to do is have a look under the bonnet when the car is started and all other "interested parties" are near it. I will let the bonnet drop (not slam it!) quite loudly and then will walk off very quickly as if I saw something that I didn't like. 

Or sometimes I will attract some interest on purpose :-) When I am with my wife (sometimes she drops me off at BCA and stays for an hour to show some interest in the business which is half hers) I will tell her very loudly and from some distance away "This is your car today, whatever it takes" and the look on some of the private punters that are checking the car (and some young dealers) is priceless. They will literally turn away, hands in their pockets towards the next car on their list...

What does everyone think of bids which are deliberately too high? 

Cap Clean £6500, Auctioneer starts with "Who's got five?" and someone raises six fingers to scare some people off on purpose???

My manheim equivalent to blackbushe would be colchester with a couple if lanes running. But you get used to 'the competition', the faces that you end up bidding against regularly and they know you! I'm interested to know what my competitors are buying and for how much. But from a distance! 

[ExCouncilJobsworth 27]

On 10/12/2018 at 6:14 PM, Nick M.K. said:

Comission bid? Dear oh dear... 

They will always bid up to that max or often start there so you end up missing it for £50 and missing out on the ££££ under book bargains. 

Nope the live online one not the commission one. Proxy bid.

Sometimes i got stuff very cheap and sold it for 3 times what i paid for it.

90% of what i have bought is online. 

[Nick M.K. 574]

14 minutes ago, ExCouncilJobsworth said:

Sometimes i got stuff very cheap and sold it for 3 times what i paid for it.

£3000 sold for £9000 or £300 sold for £900?

[andymc1973 199]

100 sold for 300

[c_cars 56]

On 10/12/2018 at 6:22 PM, Mark101 said:

Even Online, I like to sense the buzz around a particular car - i.e. let others be your gauge as to how good the car really is.  No one bidding or very slow, it is probably in a poor state, either mechanically or cosmetically, so no proxy bids here (unless I have been to see the car beforehand).

Same here, all our buying is done online so this is by far the way to do it, coupled with a last minute sniper bid!

[ExCouncilJobsworth 27]

53 minutes ago, Nick M.K. said:

£3000 sold for £9000 or £300 sold for £900?

1200 to 3600...

It helps when you know some basic common mechanic skills...and a mate with a ramp

35 minutes ago, andymc1973 said:

100 sold for 300

Didn't know you could get motors inclusive of fees for 100...

Which auction do you go to?

[Lakeside 94]

1 hour ago, ExCouncilJobsworth said:

 

Didn't know you could get motors inclusive of fees for 100...

Which auction do you go to?

I got close once! Sent a mate up to BCA a couple of years back to bid on a few cars for me as I was busy. He thought he would be funny and found it hilarious to prank me and buy a Salmon pink Corsa C out of UKCGR no reserve for £75. Owed me about £120 all in with fees! To be fair it wasn’t all that bad and probably could of made a drink on it but gave it away in the end to someone that was desperate for a car.

[c_cars 56]

46 minutes ago, Lakeside said:

I got close once! Sent a mate up to BCA a couple of years back to bid on a few cars for me as I was busy. He thought he would be funny and found it hilarious to prank me and buy a Salmon pink Corsa C out of UKCGR no reserve for £75. Owed me about £120 all in with fees! To be fair it wasn’t all that bad and probably could of made a drink on it but gave it away in the end to someone that was desperate for a car.

Reminds me of when I got ‘stuck’ in BCA Paddock Wood a good few years back..

Had delivered a car just down the road and was asked by a dealer mate to get to Paddock Wood to buy a car he had a customer for; perfect for a lift home I thought.

Got there, stuff was making through the roof and I had a bit of a panic on as my car was a few from the end, didn’t want to public transport it home. 

Couple of lots before mine was this old Proton thing on a H or J plate, clinging on to a few days MOT. In the hall, ‘who’s got £100? No? £75? £50? Who’ll start me at £25?’ One hand wave later and I’m the proud owner much to everyone’s amusement! Shows how long ago it was, I got it out of the auction, fuelled and home for £100 all in then doubled my money to one of the boys for £200..