Well I finally won a few chips in bidding over the weekend. But before that, I had a string of about 5 unsuccessful auctions in a row where I was the underbidder. You know the saying ... close, but no cigar!

Got to thinking that auction sellers should be appreciative of the underbidder -- the guy that comes in 2nd. He pushes the high bidder to that highest bid. Without that underbidder, the chip sells for less. And in cases where there are only 2 "serious" bidders, the increment can be substantial.

In one recent case, the high bidder got the chip for $77, with my underbid of $76 losing out. But looking at the bid history, the 3rd place bidder was $51. If I hadn't come along, the chip would have sold for $52, a difference of $25 or about 1/3rd of the realized price.

Even in live auctions, it's the underbidder that determines what price the chip realizes.

So ... how about a little love for the underbidder!!

(That's my last musing for the day.)