Since I ran auctions for many years, let me respond to a few of the issues brought up here.
First, I know some bidders feel a 10% increment is too high, and would prefer to be able to raise a bid 2% or 5%, more like we can do on ebay. What they fail to realize is it makes it just as easy for that other bidder to top you. So you may not like to raise a bid 10%, but it might just be enough to knock out the competition and win you the lot. If you could raise it 2%, the next guy would have no trouble topping you also.
And with regard to alternate increments only on ceiling bids, I agree completely with REA's system. As an auctioneer, you never want to have a situation where two bidders are tied at the same bid. You especially don't want to have a tie for the winning bid. Here's why: only one of them can win the lot. When you tell the winning bidder he won, he always thanks you and tells you what a fair system it is. And then, when you tell the other guy he lost, he screams and yells and tells you he doesn't understand and promises he won't be bidding with you again. It's a terrible situation for an auctioneer, so it's imperative to have a system where nobody can be tied for the same bid.
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