Why a 10 K bid deposit?

I have been of the belief that the 10 K bid deposit on some items is for items that they know will end over that amount and is an easy way to make sure the bidder has the money available. Lately; I have noticed more and more that they are placing a 10 K bid deposit on more and more items that only end up selling for a few hundred dollars. What on earth is the point of blocking out bidders with a high bid deposit on cheap lots? I sometimes want to bid on these lots, but if i give them a 10 K deposit I can't bid on anything else in that event because all my money is tied up in a deposit.

I had not noticed it

What other than fired brass has a $10K bid deposit. And even that, it's usually over 10k pounds in the lot. It's probably a way to get the non-serious bidders from finding out what the lot hammered down at, as it more-or-less sets a 'minimum acceptable bid' amount. What did you see that went for far less than the bid deposit? The real bidding on fired brass rarely starts before 5:30 (official end time was 5pm) and has lasted past 9:30, or at least that is when I gave up watching!

I think your talking about GSA.

Those fired brass lots go real high.........scrap price on brass as of today in OKC is $1.90/lb.