On Sunday, I had the great pleasure of conducting a charity auction as Auctioneer, the main items that were being sold included sporting memorabilia, holiday packages and more sporting memorabilia!
Assisting me where Merv Hughes, the former great Australian fast bowler along with Doug Hawkins the past Bulldogs legend. The day was a complete success with many thousands of dollars raised; this exceeded the projected totals for the event which was a great thrill.
The noticeable factor with the auction was what I call 'ego bidding' which means people refuse to stop bidding at auctions as they simply cannot lose. Sometimes it doesn't matter whether they are bidding for an item under $1000 or a house that is more than $1 million. A good auction gets the competitive juices flowing and some feel that they would lose pride by opting out of the bidding war so they pay more than what in most instances that item or property should be expected to sell for.
One of the bidders Steve came up to me after the auction, he had purchased a signed Ricky Pointing (Australian cricket captain) Guernsey 'I only started bidding for a little bit of fun but then when the bidding got competitive and the price started to increase rapidly I didn't want to lose and their was no way I was going to let the other guy win'. While many people don't have the same reaction when buying property it's important to realise that who your bidding against at a property auction might be an 'ego bidder' who if challenged will bid to win.
A vital importance of bidding successfully at property auctions is to show confidence and be quick as to your decisions, procrastination often leads the other bidding party to think you’re very close to pulling out of the bidding war and therefore they go a little further than their budget. But never turn confidence into arrogance as this can backfire and well and truly get the 'ego bidder' ignited to win at all costs!
Each auction is unique, beware of anyone giving you certain auction tips as the only way to bid; every situation has to be judged on its merits.
Remember if you’re ever doing a charity auction then make sure plenty of ‘ego bidders’ are in the room. It’s a terrific way to make sure more money is raised for a terrific cause!