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O/T- Auctioneers not revealing the winning bid price

Colt45

Hot Rolled
Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Location
SLC, UT
Is there a legitimate reason for auctioneers to NOT list the amount of the winning bid for an auction?

Price discovery being an important feature of a market, seems shady that more often than not, auctioneers do not make this information available- even to participants in the auction.

On a related note, why is it that Ebay does not show the "actual" price a "best offer" item sold for anymore?
 
Well there is a reason, legitimate or not, and in my opinion it's the same for both of your questions.
Auctioneers and ebay both work off of commission. They plan to sell similar items in the future and they want future sales to bring as much as possible. It benefits them to have perspective buyers who are looking at past auctions know only that an item sold, NOT what it sold for. If an item sells at a particular auction for a very low price, for what ever reason, this can drive down the price of similar items in future sales by making people not want to pay more than that price. If an item sells for a very high price, it may also scare off potential bidders who now loose hope of getting a great deal at an auction. Auctioneers "win" by getting people to bid, this means they need to keep up the illusion that you may be getting a great deal, and you don't want to loose out!
I attend auctions, live and internet, regularly. I've gotten a lot of great deals, I've also overpaid for some stuff. The one thing I've learned is that auctions are strange animals with their own psychology!
 
Hmm, I have never been to an auction where the price wasn't known. How could it not be known, you are right there and they are calling it out, even if it is a phone or Internet bid. Are you talking about online auctions?

Dennis
 
Hmm, I have never been to an auction where the price wasn't known. How could it not be known, you are right there and they are calling it out, even if it is a phone or Internet bid. Are you talking about online auctions?

Dennis

Yes, I think it’s obvious the issue at hand is the winning bid posted on line, and although there are SO many ways that the “winning bid” can be deceptive in any auction, and the above incentive also applies, the other reason is that this information is “privileged”, ie some houses charge a fee, or otherwise restrict access to, the winning bids.
 
Is there a legitimate reason for auctioneers to NOT list the amount of the winning bid for an auction?

Colt -

You also have to realize that there are regional and industry differences also. What is acceptable in your state would not fly here in the Northeast in some cases - for example it is considered acceptable for the seller to bid on his own item in the West but not here. As for the 'industry' part - in some cases (wholesale auto auctions for example) the selling price is often published - and actually acts to set the market value (and in the case of autos the acceptable loan value).

As Derek said - it is in the individual seller/buyer and auctioneer interest in some cases to influence the spread of knowledge. An example - look at how Ebay has driven up the perceived value of items when they are made available to a national/international set of buyers versus a local auction. Usually good for the seller not so much for the buyer

At the end of the day, the one thing you can be sure of is that the perceived market value of an item at a live auction is whatever the hammer price is - at least to the buyer. But then I've never seen a seller think they got enough for any item nor a buyer not thinking it should have been less. Human nature.

Dale
 
Hmm, I have never been to an auction where the price wasn't known. How could it not be known, you are right there and they are calling it out, even if it is a phone or Internet bid. Are you talking about online auctions?

Dennis

Yes, I'm referring to online auctions. I bid in an online auction the other day, but wasn't there for the last few minutes of the auction to see the winning bid. The auctioneer does not disclose what the winning bid was in the auction history.
 
Something else that has changed on ebay is the bidders information is not disclosed. Years ago I bid on a machine and didn't win the auction; a couple of days later I received an email from a guy in Arizona that had a similar machine loaded with accessories. Even with the chance of scams and such I threw caution to the wind and sent a deposit, ended up with one fine deal compared to the machine on ebay. Sad for me is that won't happen now.
The bottom line is the auctioneer doesn't want the general public to have access to any of their information, it just doesn't benefit them in any way whatsoever.
Dan
 
I remember before I knew better when many people thought the starting price on Ebay meant it would be sold for that much or more. You had to be a signed up member to see the actually ending prices. Even so it was hard to figure out if the item had sold or not.
Bill D
 
Before ebay there was a fellow who bought a bunch of old metal lunch boxes at yard sales etc. Some were more rare then others. After he had a house full he published a book and claimed they were worth lots of money, included a price list in the book.
The public bought into it and then he quietly sold his before the market collapsed. Kind of like beany babies or modern art.
Bil lD
 








 
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