Am I missing something? (Bid increase question)

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PhiSig
Rookie Topic Starter

4 years ago

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?

Edited by user 4 years ago | Reason: Not specified

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drglnc
Herf-A-Holic

4 years ago

So, I was browsing on CB, 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?

PhiSig wrote:

They bid 6 which you already had by bidding max 7, since they bid 6 it bumped you to match that bid.

DrMaddVibe
Herf-A-Holic

4 years ago

Is this StickBid.com?

🇨🇮

PhiSig
Rookie Topic Starter

4 years ago

Is this StickBid.com?

🇨🇮

DrMaddVibe wrote:

Super helpful. Thank you. Where would this place be without thought insight and discourse like this?

They bid 6 which you already had by bidding max 7, since they bid 6 it bumped you to match that bid.

drglnc wrote:

I'm not sure I understand, if they bid $6, I would have to beat their bid ($7) not match it ($6).

They placed a "winning bid" of $6, how did they "lose" to me, also at $6? Just because I bid first, my bid wins even if it's equal to what someone else is offering? I honestly haven't heard of an auction that works that way, you have to beat bids, not match them.

I'm going to call StickBid customer service and ask for clarification, but they don't open for another half hour.

Edited by user 4 years ago | Reason: Not specified

Cheno
Herf-A-Holic

4 years ago

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

bgz
Herf-A-Holic

4 years ago

Super helpful. Thank you. Where would this place be without thought insight and discourse like this?

I'm not sure I understand, if they bid $6, I would have to beat their bid ($7) not match it ($6).

They placed a "winning bid" of $6, how did they "lose" to me, also at $6? Just because I bid first, my bid wins even if it's equal to what someone else is offering? I honestly haven't heard of an auction that works that way, you have to beat bids, not match them.

I'm going to call StickBid customer service and ask for clarification, but they don't open for another half hour.

PhiSig wrote:

Let me save you some time... just send a private message to CelticBomber, our best customer service representative.

He loves talking sticks, and especially other people's sticks he hasn't tried before.

I think he prefers the dark ones over the light ones, but rest assured he's stroked the pleasures of your shade before.

PhiSig
Rookie Topic Starter

4 years ago

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

Cheno wrote:

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.

LeeBot
Herf-A-Holic

4 years ago

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?

I've effectively placed a "bid", in this case $7/stick, that I wont actually have to pay, unless someone matches my max.

PhiSig wrote:

If you bid less than someone else's max, you immediately get a message that "you are currently losing this lot" or something like that. Technically, you did bid. You just entered a losing bid. You're max bid is what you are potentially on the hook for. It saves you from having to monitor and keep bumping your bid up. So, you're second statement is true.

You should spend some time studying the rules. It will save you money and frustration.

You're first statement is not quite accurate. Maximum high bid is the first tie breaker. Being the earlier bidder only breaks the tie if the maximum bids are the same. For example, I bid $1 with a max of $3. Someone later bids $3 with a max of $4. No one else bids. They win the bid and pay $3. If someone later bids them up, they may have to pay up to $4.

If I bid $1 with a max of $3, and someone later bids the same ($1 max $3), and no one else bids, I win and pay and pay $3.

Edited by user 4 years ago | Reason: Not specified

PhiSig
Rookie Topic Starter

4 years ago

LeeBot wrote:

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.

LeeBot
Herf-A-Holic

4 years ago

#10

I'm confident that if there were a legal way to milk more money out of this, Cbid would do it.

Take shipping for example, Cbid pulls this neat pschological trick to create the impression that you can save on shipping by buying more stuff. After all, you're already buying something, additional items are only $1 more to ship. You express this line of thought in your first post. I have fallen for this many times, and still do sometimes.

In reality, Cbid's shipping is often, if not usually, more than other companies. Sometimes by a lot. If you buy numerous items, the $1 extra on each of them adds up, and you can routinely pay $18, $25, $35 for shipping. Most companies would ship it to you for $8-$12, and for these larger orders, they'll often ship free. Cbid has the highest shipping costs around for many orders, but are good at making it seem like your saving.

PhiSig
Rookie Topic Starter

4 years ago

#11

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).

JB Murrysville
Rookie

4 years ago

#12

Sorry guys I’m new to the cigar world and bidding on cigars. My thoughts on the “max” bid is that it stops the last second bidder from stealing your lot. For example if I bid $5 with a max of $8 and I’m winning at $5, the “3 seconds to go” guy can’t steal your lot with a $6 bid. Please correct me if I’m wrong but I think that is the purpose of the “max” bid.

Stogie1020
Herf-A-Holic

4 years ago

#13

JB Murrysville wrote:

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).

Sunoverbeach
Herf-A-Holic

4 years ago

#14

Losing is a sign of weakness. Explain to the family that food is unimportant and jack up that max to where no sniper would dare f#$k with you

DrMaddVibe
Herf-A-Holic

4 years ago

#15

Well, Platinum status is where it's at.

PhiSig
Rookie Topic Starter

4 years ago

#16

I ended up winning a couple different auctions. I got a total of 24 cigars (and a box/humidor) for a total of $5.82 a cigar, shipped. Those same cigars are between $12-$14 each here, if they even have them.