The auctioneer calls out, “200.” Bidders respond with their own bids, and suddenly, the auctioneer asks, “220.” A split-second later, a bidder yells, “225,” and the auctioneer calls for “240.” Nothing is amiss here. The auctioneer is simply adhering to a bid increment, which is the price add-on that must be applied to the current price in order to accept the next bid. A working knowledge of this bid increment can help bidders bid in a timely fashion and help the auction clerk keep track of the winning bidder.
To observe the bid increments at play, try running a mock auction with three bidder numbers and one bid sheet. Start the auction with the opening bid at $100 and increase the bid increment in $10 steps to a current price of $200. At that point, start increasing the price at $20 increments. Have someone call out the bids as the other participants raise their bidding numbers. Have a clerk record the bidder after each accepted bid. While it might be easy for the auctioneer to call a current price of $190 and then $200, remember that at the price of $200, the next valid increment price is not $210 but $220. This minor transition from a $10 increment to a $20 increment is where most people get tripped up.
There are many different bid increment tables and they may vary from one auction to the next. One auction might use a $5 increment for the first $100 of price, a $10 increment for the next $100 of price, a $20 increment for the next $300 of price, then $50 and larger increments after that. Or, the auctioneer may use his or her discretion to make an increment call for the next price. Increment rules may also vary from live auction bidding, absentee bids, telephone bids, and online auction bidding. Before you bid in a live auction, read the terms of the sale and/or look up the auction site’s bid increment chart. Never make assumptions about a bid increment structure in one auction applies to another auction.
Often, the person new to auctions gets lost in the numbers by watching who is actively bidding instead of listening to the auctioneer’s bid. If the auctioneer takes the bid at $460 and the increment is $20, the next valid bid should be $480. If someone offers a bid of $470, the auctioneer may simply not accept the bid, or may call for the next valid price. But the auction clerk still must record the current bidder who was accepted at $460 and not mistakenly award the lot to the person who made a bid of $470. By writing the accepted current price on the bid sheet in a clear line, a mistake can be spotted more easily.
Maximum bids also play into the mix. An online bidder who entered the maximum bid of $550 in an item that has a current price of $400 doesn’t mean that the bid will move to $550 instantly. The online auction platform will bid for the maximum bidder using a bid increment until the person who placed the $550 maximum is outbid or until his/her maximum bid is reached. If the current price moves past $550 by a new bidder or other bidder’s maximum bid, the bidding for the maximum bidder will stop. Thus, the displayed price may jump higher with no indication on the screen that another bid came in, as the platform could be working off the maximum bids placed earlier.
During your practice sessions, try to listen for the current bid that the auctioneer took and then calculate what the next valid bid amount should be, and then determine which bidder is still winning. Note the transition on your bid sheet when the auctioneer switches from a $10 increment to $20 or $50. By tracking the current bid number on the sheet in a sequence such as 300, 320, 340, 360, it is much easier to spot a jump error than if you have scribbles on your page with crossed-out guesses. The second that you know the next valid bid increment while also tracking who is currently the winning bidder, the auction is moving from chaos into order.