America's #1 Online Cigar Auction
first, best, biggest!

So, I was browsing on (edit:) StickBid, and I found a stick I like. It was being sold as a single, they had 8 available, and I already had one winning bid that was going to ship, so I figured why not?

Current winning bid was $4. The bid increment was $1. I bid on 4, $5 each, with a max bid of $7. I figured that with a $1 increment, someone else would bid $6, my bid would go to $7, and if it went higher than that, I would say "oh well".

I signed in this morning and somehow MY bid is $6. Am I missing something? I had the winning bid at $5, the increment was $1, which means someone else who wanted to beat me would have to bid $6, yet somehow it seems as though I outbid my winning $5 bid with a $6 bid? I don't understand how it's possible that my bid went up by the minimum increment when I was already winning?

Is this StickBid.com?

It's because you bid that amount first, that's why you are winning.

That seems very counter intuitive. From a business perspective at least.

So no one can really place a bid, at all, unless it's more than my max bid, any attempted bid that's below my max will just raise my bid to match the attempted bid?

So I'm not actually outbidding anyone, unless they go over my max, and then I choose to bid again.

I've effectively placed a "bid", in this case $7/stick, that I wont actually have to pay, unless someone matches my max. In a normal auction I would have to beat other bids in order to win, not just match them up to a max bid. In this case my $5 bid would be beaten by a $6 bid and I would have to exceed that bid ($7) in order to win.

Imagine that in the context of a silent auction? My silent bid was the highest, but i only have to pay the amount that was bid by the next highest bidder.

It saves me money, so I'm not complaining, but you have to admit it's a little weird.

You see what I'm saying though, right? I sort of understand a tie breaker with an equal max bid, but StickBid is leaving cash on the table. I put in a max bid of $7 expecting to have to outbid a $6 bid, I didn't expect to be able to "match" another bid to win under my max. And if all I have to do is match your bid, did you really lose? I kind of won on a technicality.

StickBid is a business. I can't blame them for doing what's best for them. I bid my max based on current bids, bid increments, and what I'm willing to pay. If they changed it from a tiebreaker to outbid to win, it wouldn't change my bidding at all.

I have zero loyalty to any online business based on any kind of emotion
I buy cigars here that are cheaper here than anywhere else, and I factor in shipping. I got a batch of cigars and a humidor (shipped) for significantly less than 50% of MSRP and about 45% less than other online retailers. I pretty much exclusively make purchases like that on here. The singles I would never buy alone because of shipping, but in this case the math works, because the price and shipping once I already have one item bought is still a significant savings over local brick and mortar stores in my area. The stores in my area have a very limited selection, the sticks I bought are rarely in stock locally, and when I can find them they're usually around 50% over MSRP. (The trade off is low demand means rare or harder to find cigars are usually in stock, the Arturo Fuente Hemingway series is a great example, I like them, and they can be hard to find, there's a shop here where I can walk in any day of the week and find a few different sizes available).

I think it's more so you don't have to keep re-bidding up to your desired max as the auction progresses and others bid higher, but yes, that is a benefit (unless the sniper ALSO sets a max bid that is higher than your bid).

Well, Platinum status is where it's at.

What did you win?

CBID Fact Checkers report this as: MOSTLY ACCURATE

Omits certain details that would benefit the reader, but otherwise is accurate.

"Overbid" is relative. I'm very happy with my purchases. You might think I overpaid. But my retail availability is limited (and enviously not, because a Habanos retailer is a ferry ride away) and expensive.

I got a handful of cheap, shareable, everyday sticks, that I enjoy, for 1/3 of what I would pay at a brick and mortar store locally. I'm sure you would be happy with that deal too. The actual dollar amount is based on location and market, a good deal for me may very well be overpriced for you.

I've got a seperate humidor full of 2018 R y J short churchills that I save for special occasions. These are "daily smokes" and I'm happy with them and my purchase.

I still think "matching" and not "winning" is weird.

ZFG Club. Plankholder.

How old's your sister anyway?

Don't knock it til you've tried it. She pops those dentures out and gets it done. You haven't lived til you've had a "smoothie".

I'll take an awkward morning over a lonely night anyday.