The third stage of an auction moves slower. Bidders will think for longer between bids, and they look a little more pensive. We are down to the last 2 or 3 bidders now. Most of the other bidders have stopped bidding and the selling agents are talking to each bidder to make sure they know who is still in and who is out. Those who are still bidding are getting closer to the limits they set before the start of the auction.
At this point of the auction, we don’t need to say a lot to each bidder. Our conversations are more about checking in with them. Are they still thinking, are they finished, are they sure will they won’t be sorry that someone else bought it.
The auctioneer is giving each bidder time to process where the bidding is up to.
These last bidders are changing their thinking from ‘how much I would like to pay to buy it’ to ‘what would I pay not to lose it’.
When bidders see others bidding around them, they assume those bidding are acting correctly. It’s common for people to think their competition in the auction are financially better off or just more confident about what they are doing. There is also a degree of reassurance that comes from this competition. If others think this is worth it, it must be. That confidence that comes from what others are doing is called Social Proof.
Good sales agents and auctioneers are watching people closely. We tend not to blindly accept when some says no to having another bid. We are less interested in their words and more interested in their facial expression. If there isn’t resignation, then the no is better thought of as, leave me alone or no I won’t bid right now, or I just want to think. When a bidder is genuinely finished their body posture and face relax and they look around rather than stare at the auctioneer. There is disappointment but there is also acceptance. Auctioneers know if someone is still tense, they are still in.
These are the people that might make one last bid just before the hammer comes down. They may not have even bid until now.
A good auctioneer and sales team know what to look for. They read the crowd, and they know when to allow people space and silence to think before they make their next bid. When the second last bidder bows out, the auctioneer will often thank them genuinely for their participation. He changes his voice tone and volume to convey he accepts that he is going to sell. And then he hesitates.
Good salespeople and auctioneers aren’t watching the highest bidder, they are watching the underbidders. Sometimes someone jumps in and off we go again.
Author: Stephen Jackson
