[meteorite-list] Meteoritic Misadventure

From: CMcdon0923_at_aol.com <CMcdon0923_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:08:31 2004
Message-ID: <128.1826f109.2ac27c31_at_aol.com>

Sorry to hear about your misadventures....I've had similar experiences
(connection lost, "fat-fingering" logon/password, etc.)...so this brings up
an interesting (at least IMHO) question......

Every time I lose an item to this type of occurrence, I ask myself "why" I
was so foolish to do it. If I'm prepared to pay $x for an item, why do I
insist on trying to snipe it at the very end of the auction? Granted, I
usually never bid until the last few minutes before the end, but it's mainly
because I don't want to call attention to the item. I use the same method at
live auctions for another hobby of mine....let the other bidders fight it
out, and then if it's still within my predetermined price range, I'll jump in
once most of the others have dropped out....if it's over my limit, I just let
it go.

So back to the question.....Again, if I'm prepared to pay a maximum of
say...$100 for a meteorite, why not just bid the $100 up front. If somebody
wants to top me, fine...it's over my limit, and unless I succumb to "auction
fever" and bid again, it goes to someone who apparently values it more than
I.

But, if the underbidder maxed out at $75, it would be mine at the next
increment over their bid, I'm still well below my limit, and I have some room
left to combat any other snipers that may be out there. So why bother to
risk losing it by trying to snipe it? Personally, I've lost more sniping
battles than I've won. So why do I keep doing it? Do we get some additional
sense of satisfaction/accomplishment by thinking that we "stole" it from the
next bidder? (Michael B., isn't this up your professional alley?)

Oh well....gotta go...there's an auction about to end and I have
to........................................
Received on Tue 24 Sep 2002 10:40:49 PM PDT