Does the high online bid become the opening bid for the live auction?
Do buyers at the live auction have access to the online bids, know which lots have bids and which do not?

I think when he says "$35 is mine" etc, that's an online bid? Wissmiss will probably know.

Seems that system would lack incentives to bid online.

I hope FHA has someone other than Mr. Downey bidding the rats. He ripped through 150,000 rats in 5 minutes.

That is correct.

There isn’t much incentive to bid on line. There is an advantage in that it allows small buyers, such as myself, to participate in the auction without being in NB. Saves me not only time but also a couple thousand dollars in travel expense. It allows me to purchase (attempt to purchase) goods I can’t get in idaho, like wolverine, fisher and ranch fox.

If the buyers in the auction room also registered as on line bidders, they can see the on line catalog and know what the high bid is and the lots with no bids. They could have that file up in front of them on an iPad and follow each lot as it is sold.

I’m not 100% sure where the auction room bidding starts. I think I have it figured out but then one of the auctioneers does it a bit different. I think they are supposed to start with the valuation and go up in intervals from there. It is set intervals based on price.

$100.00 to $105.00 to $110.00 to $115.00. Etc.

If an online bidder has bid over the value, they are NOT supposed to start with that bid. They are supposed to start with the value and work their way up with bids from the room. Doesn’t always happen that way.

So if the value is $40.00 and the online bidder bid $50.00 but there are no bids in the room, the hammer price should be $40.00. Just like as if he is in the room.

Can you see values when bidding online?

Seems as the. Online buyer creates the value

The online bidding catalog shows values. That value is the starting bid. In most cases, the system will not accept a bid below value or more than 10% below value.

Value is listed at $20.00. You bid $15.00. Your bid is rejected.

Incorrect. Some one at FH creates the value. Same whether it is in the room or on line.

"will not accept a bid below value or 10% below value" Isn't that statement contradictory? It would be one or the other, can't be both, no?

I would hope that's the case. It'd be pretty crooked if an online buyer really wanted to make sure they got a particular lot and entered the high bid at 2-3 times the value. If no one bids on the lot, but the house took the online bidders highest bid......... that almost sounds like it could be legal trouble.

It can be both, depending on the item. Raccoon would be a species they would accept a bid 10% below value. Sable would be a species (at least at this auction) where they would hold firm to the value.

Another example is who owns the goods. Intersorts (trapper goods) are more apt to be flexible on the value. Dealer goods with shipper limits are more likely to be firm limits, no room to negotiate.

Thanks wissmiss, appreciate the clarification.

I’ve been a car buyer since 1999. But almost exclusively at dealer auto auctions. In the example above there are two different scenarios. If I tell an auctioneer to “go to $50” it should go down like Wissmiss said above. If I ask the auctioneer to “open at $50”, the opening bid should be $50 and not go lower whether there are lower bids on the floor or not.

(Using $50 as an example. Never bought a $50 car. lol)

I agree with trapset completely. Same dollar amount, just different wording.

What am I missing here?

The purpose of an auction is to sell to the high bidder unless the high bid is less than an established minimum price.

If an online bidder puts in a bid of $50 on a lot that FHA values at $40, they have exceeded the valuation. If no one in the live auction bids over $50, the hammer price should be $50, Sold to the online bidder.

Not sure at FHA. But at auctions I go to, if I tell auctioneer to go up to a particular number, he might start at the reserve # if it’s lower. If no one bids more, and reserve has been met I own it for the lower number.

In the other case, if I tell auctioneer to open the bid at a high number, rather than go to that number, he will open the bidding at the higher number and not go lower.

Open bid and go to bid can be the same number, but are two entirely different things.

Auctions are for the buyer too, lookin for a smoking deal. That why I bid at auctions……….unless it’s at a convention, then I get down right idiotic.

So....FHA says that those of us that sold marten in the country this year are going to really be repenting after this weekend. Whatcha think? True?