Posted By:
Hal LewisBUT...
you always have to remember that the REA auction is the only one (to my knowledge) where the OWNER of the card who consigned it to the auction CANNOT bid on his own card in order to drive the price up.
THUS...
any time you see a very high bid in any other auction, there is ALWAYS the possibility of the seller bidding up the price and dragging the big spender along for the ride.
The only bad thing that could happen to the seller is that he pays the 16% buyer's commission and buys his own card back... but probably makes this up later when the card sells, because the public auction has made it "appear" that the card is "worth" whatever the final hammer price was. (Seller's fee is normally 0% nowadays on big items)
THIS,...
of course, is why someone has realized that he would have to be an IDIOT to come on the boards and publicly announce that he will bid all night and pay whatever it takes to win a particular card.
I admit it.