Helping each other out

[Gonzaleznut]

Now I know that we all want to get cards, but I think that another aspect of being "friendly" to one another is having the courtesy to bid against one another. Rob and I have an agreement that we will not bid against each other. If one of us sees a card first then the other will just catch the next one.

I just noticed the Freddie has outbid me on a couple of things and thought I would thow this out there and see what everybody thinks.

If you want to make it every man for himself that is fine too.

[freddie]

Usually I don't bid until the last 5 seconds using my snipe program. Am I to never bid on a card when one of you places a bid early on? Today I just bid on a few cards that I suspected you were not going to win going on you past recent max bids, e.g. the 93 refractor. You must agree that you generally place very low bids hoping to catch a break on price. In these instances, you generally lose most of the auctions you bid on which on the end makes it unfair to ask others to not bid when you do when you don't place realistic bids on the whole. If you were bidding more on cards raising your chance to win then I could understand an agreement. You bid $50 on the 93 refractor and there is no way you are going to win that card for $50. Do you think it is fair to not ask anyone else on here to bid when you know someone outside of here is going to bid more? I so agree that an agreement can work out but it only goes so far when the collectors who want nothing to do with the forum or our group continue to bid as well.

I think there would be very few cards for me to bid on using the method that I prefer to bid with. I also have noticed that you and Rob seem to scan ebay all the time catching cards before others as it is rare that I find desireable cards without a bid on it already.

Doesn't really matter right now anyway as I think the market for Juan cards is too high so I am going to back off until it cools down to more realistic levels or Rob grows tired of trying to own every card on the market.

[Gonzaleznut]

Well, I understand your position. Several points:

• Yes, Juan cards have gotten way too high recently. I think it is because many Juan collectors have been bidding more and there are a few new ones in the fray. I saw a Sweet Spot Auto go for $52 recently. That is ridiculous. I have seen it several times go for less that $20.
• I bid very different from you. I like to throw a "feeler" bid out there initially to see if I can "get lucky" on the price. Why wouldn't I want to pay as little as possible? I am trying to amass a collection for as little as possible. I will go back and bid again on a card if I really want it bad enough, but mostly I am simply patient. I know that unless it is a 1/1 there will be another opportunity down the road for me to pick it up. I have an indefinite timetable.
• I also agree that while a bidding agreement does not prevent someone else from bidding against you, it simply lowers the number of people you have to worry about bidding against. There are certainly people I do not mind bidding against...I just try to avoid doing it to my friends. Many times I have seen a card I would like to bid on and Rob ends up getting it super cheap because I don't do anything. I don't want to drive up his price when he will probably still win it and I would just be costing him money.

[freddie]

You're only going to get lucky rarely in the current market and asking others to not bid because you're throwing out low bids early on everything of interest is not really fair.

[pepino19]

hello,guys.There are times when you might get lucky winning a card or cards for very low prices.To me is all budget,I most of the time compare prices,what the cards are worth and how much i'm willing to spend.Sometimes I get lucky,sometimes i lose the bid by $.25.

[Gonzaleznut]

Originally Posted by freddie

You're only going to get lucky rarely in the current market and asking others to not bid because you're throwing out low bids early on everything of interest is not really fair.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion and I respect it.

[jjt111]

This has always been a touchy subject amongst friends and family. The way I handle it isn’t the correct way but my way. I’ll place a small wager on something I see I need. If a friend let’s me know that they want it I’ll back off an item and he/she needs to do the same for me once before I’m asked to back off again. I’m not a person who doesn’t do last second wagers. I have a set figure in mind on every card I need and willing to let any friend know what that is. If they are willing to go higher, then I won’t continue to place bids. I don’t feel that a card will come up again if I let it go. To me it will be a hole in my collection that I might not fill. The lack of funds stops me too often to let a card/need go by that I can afford so friends can get it for themselves on an ongoing bases. The good thing in my Gonzalez collection is I only collect one of each and now have published most of my collection on this site so you all will know if I’ll be wagering on a card or not!