Remember the number one PROBLEM with an AUCTION -- it takes TWO or more people wanting what you have to sell - and they both/all are willing to bid to at least what you're wanting to sell for...So even at an auction like BJ... it takes two people minimum to raise the price. Without people bidding against each other - the price won't rise.
So here's the deal - you want 100K for your car - I'm willing to pay 100K maybe even 105K... I bid 50K and nobody bids against me - I get to buy the car (in a no reserve auction) even though I was quite willing to pay more...
So... since many sellers at auctions KNOW this... they'll have their buddies bid against you, bumping the bid up... Or perhaps the auctioneer knows what you "need" for the car - and they'll call out "phantom" bids - so essentially the auction house is acting as the "other bidder" against you.
Not knowing how this works - is why "newbs" get killed at auctions... and end up selling their pride and joy for way less than they wanted. A very expensive learning experience! LOL
eBay used to be a great way to gauge the value of something... lots of people - lots of exposure to the "market"... but I think so many people have been burned buying POS cars - and there are now so many "dealers" selling - that this no longer sets the market price... Of course, like anything - that is not 100% always the case.. there are millions of items bought and sold on eBay daily.. BJ used to be a "feeding frenzy" orgy on cars... I think that has cooled significantly and we will see more "normalized" prices this year - but then again - that's only my gut feeling.
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