I had one item today that I was bidding on and lost out by one increment. I’m not a fan of the Morphy bidding system. If you submit a PDF or faxed bidding form with a bid, they immediately post your max bid online. They do not bid up to your max on your behalf like all of the other auction houses I have patronized. Apparently, You can avoid immediate max bid posting only by submitting to a telephone call from one of their bidders 5 lots ahead. This is a bad system in my opinion. Did anyone “get lucky” in today’s auction?

Owen, this is Morphy's second auction post merger with Julia's. The first was June 25-28, 2018.

As for the bidding procedure if that is what Morphy's are doing (I don't know because I don't leave bids with them) that is the same method used by Holts. You leave a bid via E-mail, PDF or Faxed and if it is the only bid they have on that item when it starts to sell, they list that bid as the starting point. For sure it is a disadvantage.

If there is something I definitely wanted I would either be there in person at the auction, bid live online or do the phone bidding. That way if you want it bad enough you won't be outbid.

A friend of mine bid on a Purdey pigeon gun but didn't win. He did the same as you.
I started to bid on the Boss round action. It went cheap.

Just a question, please, for those of you who are active in these auctions. What level of internet service would be required to participate in the live, on-line bidding? I have satellite service, and have the highest speed package available, but would DSL be required?

I guess I could register for one sometime and go online and just watch, in order to determine that. (?)

Thanks, SRH

I bid $5000 online, prior to the auction going live, on a gun with an opening bid of $3000. The online service was “invaluable “. I was listed as high bid at $3000 and there was no other bidding prior to the auction starting. The gun hammered at $5000, my top bid! I didn’t get the gun. This has happened to me before at a Julia auction. I didn’t follow up. I’ve asked for an explanation this time. I was unable to follow the auction on line while it was in progress to bid more, If necessary. I’ll let you know what I learn.

What did the Boss hammer for? It looked like a nice gun.

I've had the exact same experience Bill. If there is a tie, they always take the bid from the floor, even though yours was first.

Bill, if someone else placed the same bid you did but before you, the first bidder is the winner. That is the way I have heard it.

The below explanation is copied from the FAQ page on Morphy Auctions website:

How are pre-bids executed and how does Live online bidding work?

On the day of the auction, if you left pre-bids online,  these are transferred to the auctioneer fifteen minutes before the auction begins. Our online platforms close for absentee bids and open for live online bidding and to our auction floor. Morphy Auctions utilizes multiple bidding platforms, of which, our primary bidding platform is MorphyLive.
Live auction floor bidders take precedence, and win any tie bids against the internet. Our auctioneer takes these floor bidders first then checks his computer for your bids. Because this is a live auction, we do not offer “Buy Now” offers due to the agreement with our consignors.

Phone lines are limited, so please arrange a phone line at least 24 hours prior to the auction. As a phone bidder, your bids will take precedence over internet or absentee bids in a tie bid situation. During your phone bid you will hear the auction and the timing of the sale (the auctioneer does approximately 80 – 100 lots per hour).

So, you have 40 seconds to complete the bidding process?
Anyway, I have never had a pre-submitted "not to exceed" bid ever exercised at less than the "not to exceed" figure.

So, I quit bidding.

This phenomena is manifestation of these auctions maintaining straw bidders, who's only function is to raise the bid price up to whatever "not to exceed" bids they have received.

They aren't going to leave any money on the table if they have a live one sending in a bid.

I find it crooked as a snake.

So, I quit bidding, unless I can be in the room.

CZ, the practice of reaching one's "not to exceed" bid is present in auctions other than for guns guns. I have absentee bid on items on the phone, but prefer to have someone I know and trust present to place bids knowing my max. It has worked for me. Gil

Based on a few previous experiences with auction purchases, i had thought the practice of running bids was common, however one of the purchases I made in the current auction proved me wrong on that. My max bid was higher than opening and I won it for opening.

Gil, I buy stuff at auction all the time.
The State, when auctioning off it's surplus stuff, has to allow 5 minutes after the receipt of the last bid, before the hammer. This allows for slow computers, etc. making it fair to online bidders.
Also, to prevent sniping, every additional bid extends the time 5 minutes.
They just want the max price as a fiduciary act, so it's in all our interest to allow the pause.

Gun peddlers that immediately jump the auction price to the maximum pre-submitted bid aren't really conducting an auction. It's a negotiation.

Bid by phone, it works.

Holts, the old Julia's, and Gavin Gardiner bid incrementally up to your max bid as a "commission bid" on behalf of the auction house. For example, I bought an engraved .22 rifle at Holts a few months ago. I PDF'd my bid in for 1200 sterling. The Auctioneer bid for me up to 900 sterling when the room bidding ended and I won the rifle for 900 sterling. I followed the same procedure at Morphy's. Immediately my bid, which was $4k above the reserve, showed as "current bid" on the Morphy's website well ahead of the beginning of the auction. One bid from the floor took me out and the bidding was over.

Stan, You should go onto Morphy's website with your connection and launch the Live Bidding page. You can get a sense for the lag time between start of auction and hammer based on your internet connection. They have a firearms auction today and tomorrow. I have a very good internet connection, but sometimes I feel like the auction server causes a lag.

Bill, I'd be interested to hear the explanation you receive.

I refuse to bid where my entire bid is posted as my opening bid. I’m bidding against myself until someone else bids. That’s pointless. I accept the on sealed bids at places like Holts sealed bid auction that is the way it works. But why bid your max amount when you might be the only bidder just to make the auction house more money? Problem is that the auction houses want as many bidders as possible but can’t slow down the auction to level the playing field. On site bidders have a clear advantage because they get real time bidding information while off site gets delayed information or forced to over bid upfront.

CZ, gunbroker has a similar policy with its 15 minute rule.
SxS40, with an honest employee manning the phone it can work. I've also heard examples of the opposite from someone who was there and saw what was happening on some items that kept getting bumped up without activity on the floor. Gil

Anyone know how Rock Island treats absentee maximum bids? Do they treat them incrementally or post them as opening bids, or use straw buyers to drive prices up to them? Anyone recently obtained an item at a Rock Island auction for less than their maximum bid?

Owen—thus far, the only response I’ve received is as follows! The opening bid was $3000, established by me with my pre-auction bid of $5000. I’m told that as the bidding progressed in increments of $250–MOST LIKELY—my online pre bid came in at $4750 and SOMEONE ELSE came in at $5000, which was my maximum bid and they prevailed. I’m not buying it. Here’s how it should have gone with my established maximum bid of $5000. The gun opens at $3000. Goes to $3250–my pre bid raises it to $3500. Goes to $3750–my pre bid kicks it to $4000. Goes to $4250–my pre bid raises it to $4500. Goes to $4750 and my max bid comes in at $5000–which was the winning bid. I’ll never know what really happened, but in the future, I’ll be at the auction or on the phone for an item I’d really like to have. To be clear, I’ve placed bids for years and HAVE won items for less then my maximum, but never at the 2 major auction houses.

Morphy's charge 20% buyers fee vs. 15% that Julia's charged. Guess who eats the extra 5%!If I am a buyer on a gun I value at $10,000.00 I will bid up to $8,000.00. The seller receives the $8,000.00 minus 1% insurance fee and a sellers fee.

I bought from the last Rock Island auction and got my gun for one increment less than my max bid. I submitted my bid early and they told me they would start out below the minimum and bid up to my maximum. It was my first experience buying from one of these auction companies and I was very pleased

While bidding on the phone, I follow along on proxibid with the sound turned off. You can hear the auctioneer in the background on the phone. I’m very comfortable with this process and have purchased many guns at my price and below. As with any auction, have a maximum bid limit and stick to it.

Owenjj3, what .22 rifle did you buy at Holt's?

It was a BSA Martini from the 20's in great condition. I am patiently awaiting the last steps of importation thru one of our forum members.