Recently, I won ~85 auctions from a single eBay seller in a single auction block. I was sweating while trying to last-minute update my bids on 100+ listings that were all ending sequentially within 5 seconds of each other.
After the ordeal, it made me wonder:
How many auctions have you won from a single seller in a single block?
Here were my tips:
Day of the auction - I updated my max bids, giving myself maybe 10%-15% wiggle room from the top if I really wanted the card and was caught up in the bidding war.
Hour of the auction - I opened dozens of tabs of the most important cards and any over a certain value.
Second of the auction - I checked the outbid notifications and updated within the last 6 seconds or so if I wanted the card. I missed a lot of cards because they all ended so quickly, but my previous max bid prevented me from overspending. I created an excel file where I could double-check the market price of each of the cards in real time, though I also had to use 130point and TCGPlayer when I underestimated demand.
This has only happened to me a handful of times, where the number of auctions that I was competitively bidding on was 50-100+. It’s not something that I enjoy, but sometimes it’s a necessary evil when cards unexpectedly get auctioned together.
Has this ever happened to you? How did you do? Any tips?
Gixen only works if you have accurately estimated the demand for the card. I often find that small adjustments must be made in real time if I am wanting to win!
Probably 2-3, but no idea tbh. Last time is likely 3+ years ago. I almost always BIN the cards I want. Auctions are only for the cards I can’t find for a BIN, so when it happens it’s usually one auction at a time.
EDIT: For context, these days I’m primarily collecting modern cards for my sub-collection goals, as well as non-TCG. In the past I might have done auctions over BIN a few times here and there, although still not a lot.
7-8 items from a seller dumping vintage consoles. Thankfully they were smart enough to not end all listings at the same time (but spaced ~15 minutes apart).
Giving a bit of buffer is nice, since it allows some strategic bidding and reduces the risk of impulse bidding or going over budget. Gixen is extremely good I guess, but sometimes one needs flexibility
Maybe about 5, but your strategy is solid. Winning auctions like this has saved me a lot compared to the BIN values but ive also missed many things that i have no one to blame but myself on because if i really wanted it, i would have bid higher.
I ‘accidentally’ won 28 PSA 10 Iono’s Wattrels from a japanese auction house because i mistyped the gbp price into a currency converter so overpaid for every single one in the auction block
Complete or near-complete NM sets, one card at a time, back-to-back in auction. This happens very often in MTG and less often in Pokemon. If I am starting a new binder or if I am missing a majority of the set, it’s not unreasonable to bid on 100+ auctions in a single block.
This is 100% why I do it. The set cards that I mentioned above will sometimes go for 30%-50%+ off eBay BIN prices in auction. And if I trust the seller and their pictures/appraisal of the cards, I have very little risk.
