What are all the reasons you might have a person/entity bid on your behalf?
 

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

What are all the reasons you might have another person or entity bid on your behalf at auction? I can think of a few. Curious what others' thoughts are.

(i) Anonymity - if you do not want the particular auction house to know who you are during bidding. (Why? if you do not want them to know you have deep pockets - or a history of buying whatever it is you want no matter what the price?)

(ii) Sales Tax - if the auctioning entity and buyer are residents of the same state, though if this is the sole reason for bidding by proxy this may be improper.

What other rationales are out there?

......and
 

3. Out of righteous indignation you have stated that you will never do business with so and so again - but they got something you just gotta have

Other reasons for proxy bids
 

There are a few scenarios that come to mind. All of these have actually played out in the past:

1) You are not registered with an auction house as a valid bidder, but your friend is
2) Not being able to bid late and not trusting the ceiling bidding process
3) Someone bidding for you in a live auction to avoid last minute technical snafus

Ooo that's a good one Jeff - righteous indignation. and interesting additional three Scott, thanks. Getting a good list.

reasons
 

On Vacation and the wife doesnt want you near a phone or computer!;);)

You've had a very public disagreement with an AH and they have banned you from bidding.

Playing devil's advocate (not saying these are valid/ethical reasons or anything I myself would engage in, but you didn't specify):

1. You have been banned from the auction house in question and are unable to place a bid yourself.

2. The item being sold is yours and you want to increase the price on it, but the auction house has a policy against consignors bidding on their own items (i.e. shill bidding)

3. You have a friend who is also very interested in the item, and you want to own it but don't want your friend to see you bidding against him (in other words, you value your friendship more than the item, but only just barely). You'll just have to hide it whenever your friend comes over :D

My mom has an eBay account but is 72 and isn't savvy with the process so once in a while has me buy stuff for her on eBay on my account. I swear it's all on the up and up when I win wool yarn for her.

I suspect there are some well healed collectors who aren't into bidding at 3am or are not familiar with bidding, so have someone do it for them. I think there are some very well healed collectors who have others do the whole buying process.

If it involves fellow collecting relatives, I can see a brother bidding for a brother or something like that. Maybe they want to combine shipping costs.

Jeff's is a good one, and I have no doubt has happened before. I also imagine there are collectors who are in the doghouse with an auction house and isn't allowed to bid.

If you are in good status, I don't buy #i (I mean letter i?). You would want an auction house to know you're a big bidder with lots on money, because then you will get favors and considerations from them.

I can imagine the sales tax avoidance, but that doesn't sound like a wise idea. You don't want to go to jail because you have a taste for baseball cards. If you are a busy seller too, you can get a state business/tax/reseller license and not have to pay sales taxes for stuff for resale. And I'm talking legally.

In conclusion, in summary and upon quiet reflection while gazing upon the sunset, I can see both legitimate and dubious reasons for having someone else bid for you. Anything I listed where I was involved is cataloged under legitimate.

Yes, I know there is no sunset at noon. Quit being so literal. I was being rhetorical.

On ebay, if the seller does not ship to Canada or international.

Canadians. A shifty sort. The only question is is there a law a Canadian doesn't break?

Some people like to buy and re-sell. When on someplace like Ebay it's easy to go check what a seller has bought. If you see that he bought an item last week for $20 and now is asking $200 you may feel you don't want to bid on it.

For live auction you as the bidder can give a first hand description of the item so you are not relying on the catalog.

Nah, that would never happen.

or another.....
 

How about...

It's a live auction and the FBI is sitting with you at your table and you don't want them to know you are bidding on an item. (I hear my phone ringing now :))

How about this??
 

NOT TRUSTING THE AUCTION HOUSE in tipping off the consigner on who is bidding on the item. That is, if the bidder had seemigly limitless pockets... there might be some thought of potential shill bidding.

I'm wondering if the underlying reason for this post in the first place was the very coincidental occurrence earlier this week of the $4.4MM Babe Ruth jersey that just sold and was picked up by an auction house with an immediate client in mind for it.

Just thinking of rationales in general as to why would-be-bidders would employ a proxy bidder. Did not intend to address any specific piece/deal. Curious as to additional rationales out there. My favorite is the righteous indignation, I've been cracking up all night about that, I think that's really funny.

I did find it interesting that the jersey was purchased at such a top price and that it was then intended for private sale. That is a lot of money to put up - and then to expect more?? When?

This was intended as a general thread but posts have lives of their own - additional rationales, no additional rationales, segways to specifics ...

It's my understanding that the rumor is that Charlie Sheen bought it. He just received his mega payout from the settlement from Three and a Half Men and had some money burning a hole in his pocket, FWIW....

To my mind, the most likely reason one might employ a proxy for a live auction is simply because you can't spare the time and/or travel expense to attend the event yourself. Having a proxy that you trust attending the auction enables them to 1) inspect the merchandise in person and report back any findings that were not evident in the auction catalog and 2) bid live where there would be less possibility of any technological hiccups (dropped cell phone call, lost internet connection, unavailability of either). It may be cheaper/safer to have a proxy who is already attending the auction bid on your behalf than to attend yourself or risk something unexpectedly being wrong with either the item or the bidding.

And let's face it, there are also plenty of people in this world who have the means and the desire to have the high-profile items that come up for auction, but if it means having to go fetch it themselves, won't put forth the effort. That's what lackeys and employees and proxies are for. If you pay someone to do your shopping, drive your car, clean your pool, order flowers for your mother's birthday, etc., how is paying a proxy to bid on something in an auction for you that much different?

There is also something to be said for anonymity when it comes to rare and/or high-priced items. If nobody (well, other than the proxy) knows you have it, nobody can bug you about seeing it, selling it or trading it, and nobody would know where to go to steal it if they were so inclined. Doesn't make much sense if you're one who wants to show off their collection, but everybody doesn't want to do that. There is a certain satisfaction that comes from having something of value that you treasure and that nobody else knows about (picture Gollum in his cave with his "precious").

nice post

Well said, Lance!

Graig

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