Lessons in Auctions: The Ins and Outs of Absentee Bidding

 Art Deco Giltwood Palm Tree, at Skinner on July 9th, estimate
$500-700.

Well, we're getting into mid-summer now, my dearlings, in case you can't tell from the perspiration running down your back, which means fewer auctions and more time to catch up on terms and techniques.

One of the most important auction concepts to grasp is absentee bidding. For the casual auction enthusiast, this is probably how you'll bid on items the majority of the time, so you might as cozy up to this technique and get to know it well.

What is absentee bidding? 


An absentee bid is a bid that you leave with an auction house prior to the auction date. You do this in instances where you won't be attending or monitoring the live sale, because you have pesky tasks to do that day like painting your toes or going to work--something, anyway, that is more important than sitting and holding a paddle in the air.

How does it work?


The process of absentee bidding is fairly straightforward. An example might be in order here, so let's use the fabulous art deco giltwood palm tree, pictured above.

Say I really like this palm tree and have the perfect place for it in my 1920s mansion. I love it so much, in fact, that I want to leave a really high bid relative to the estimate. After all, I reason, it's not like gilded palm trees grow on trees, and my local antique store never seems to charge less than $1,800 for anything worth coveting. Given all this, I want to leave a bid of $1,200.

What am I saying exactly? I am saying that the maximum amount I will pay for this item is $1,200. Yes, maximum is the key word, that's why its in bold. Will I pay that much? I will only if at least one competitor is bidding against me right up to that dollar amount. 

I'm hoping to get it for much less though. After all, auction houses typically start the bidding at half of the minimum estimate, meaning that the auctioneer should start the bidding for this item at $250. So, in my example, if I have heated competition from $250 to $450, but then my opponent declines to increase his bid, I will get the item for $450. If my competition goes to $1,300 (the next bid increment), he gets it and I don't. It's that simple.

This French Empire bookcase did not sell in an recent auction.
Typically, this means the item's reserve was not met.

Please note that the minimum end of the estimate is just that: the low end of what the auction house expects the piece to sell for. It is not the minimum selling price. There might be a minimum selling price, though; this is called the reserve. The reserve represents the minimum price the seller wishes to sell an item for. In our example, maybe the seller doesn't want to sell the palm tree he inherited from his aunt for under $350. If the auctioneer begins the bidding at $250 and there are no other takers, the price does not move beyond $250 (the opening bid, which has become my bid). The item, therefore, does not reach the reserve and thus it does not sell. There has to be a competitor for your bid value to increase.

Where do I place an absentee bid?

In years gone by, absentee bids could only be placed with the auction houses themselves. These days, the majority of auction houses have partnered with a host company that enables live bidding. The two biggest are LiveAuctioneers and Artfact (which is also Invaluable and Auctionzip, just to add to the confusion). Absentee bids can also be left with any of these sites.

Using our giltwood palm tree example, I can either leave my $1,200 bid on Skinner's own web site or on LiveAuctioneers. The buyer's premium, 22.5% will be the same in either location.

I decide to leave my absentee bid on LiveAuctioneers. I do this because if I want to leave a bid on Skinner, I'll need a client number, which means getting the auction house to vet me prior to the sale, a process that often involves bank information and definitely involves more time. I also lose the ability to track my item in the same place I am tracking many of my other auction finds. And, finally, if I change my mind, I can either retract my bid or increase my bid on Live Auctioneers with a few simple clicks.

I leave a bid with LiveAuctioneers for $1,200. Before I press confirm, LA calculates the buyer's premium for me, just to make sure I understand that the total price is going to be $1,470 once the 22.5% buyer's premium is included.

What happens next?
Once the bid is received, you should get a confirmation email that shows what you've bid. If you don't receive this, and it's not in your spam, something went wrong. (Note: the auction houses will take longer to confirm a bid than LA, sometimes more than a day. Be patient unless you are running out of time. In that case, call, but be sure to tell them you placed a bid through their website.)

If you end up watching the auction, for heaven's sake, don't bid until the amount gets past your maximum absentee bid! You'll just be bidding against yourself. In our example, say I am so jacked up about this palm tree that I end up watching the auction live online and decide I really want to go to $1,500. I won't jump in until the bidding has surpassed my $1,200 bid. LA tries to make bidding idiot proof by saying YOUR BID in bright green while the auction is going on, plus the software would actually prevent me from bidding until the bidding had surpassed $1,200--another helpful feature.

If you win the item through a bid placed on LiveAuctioneers, it will immediately appear in the Lots Won section of your dashboard. If you bid through the auction house, you might have to wait until the end of the sale to see the results. But don't worry: however you've won, they'll manage to get an invoice out to you very quickly!

I hope this was helpful. Now, go, bid, win and be happy!