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Govplanet tutorial from fellow members ?

acesneights1

Member
1,449
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Location
CT
I honestly am a little confused about how to bid with them. I am looking at a few trucks. I thought there would be a sticky maybe by now but could not find much at all.
Can anyone go through the basics of bidding/buying from GP ?
I have successfully established an account to bid.
Any tricks or tips I should know ?
I have believe I have a reliable shipper lined up if I win something.
 

MtnSnow

New member
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Location
NSL, UT
The easiest thing to do is place your max bid your willing to pay for the item your wanting and then just wait and see if you win at the end of the auction. But if you want to play the bidding game it's really just about like a real auction. Once the item actually "opens" for "active" bidding any and all "early bids" get processed and the active/current price is then updated and shown. Then if a bid is placed at the last second it automatically extends the auction for a set period of time to allow other bidders to re-bid if they so choose to.. Thats basically how it works.
 

Artisan

Well-known member
2,762
227
63
Location
CDA Idaho
There customer service is great.
Just give them a call and ask for a rep to give you a tutorial.
Once you get a grip you will love It...
 

bchauvette

New member
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12
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Location
Easley SC USA, 29640
I believe the time extension is something like 2 minute. The process precludes juggling several like lots. Bidding on a lot until it get up there then jumping to a lower bid like lot.
 

doghead

4 Star General /Moderator
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http://www.govplanet.com/jsp/s/howto/howtoBuy.html?title=How+to+buy&showFAQ=true&kwtag=footer

[h=2]How it works[/h]How does the bidding work in an example auction?
Let's suppose that we're selling a backhoe loader which opens at $20,000 and has a bid increment of $500. The following gives an example of how the bidding for this auction might unfold.
  1. Bidder A starts the bidding by entering a maximum bid amount of $23,000. The GovPlanet auction system bids $20,000 on Bidder A's behalf, which is the minimum amount required to put Bidder A in the lead.
  2. Bidder B enters a maximum bid of $20,500 in an attempt to take the lead. However, since Bidder A has a higher maximum amount, our auction system responds with a bid of $21,000 to maintain Bidder A's lead.
  3. Bidder C then joins the bidding with a maximum bid of $28,000. Our auction system first tries to bid on behalf of Bidder A at his maximum amount of $23,000. But, since Bidder C's maximum amount is higher, the system cannot keep Bidder A in the lead. The auction system then places a bid on behalf of Bidder C for $23,500, which is the minimum amount required to make Bidder C the high bidder.
  4. Bidder A then attempts to reclaim the lead with a maximum bid of $25,000. But, since Bidder C's maximum amount is higher, our system responds to keep Bidder C in the lead with a bid of $25,500.
  5. No more bids are submitted to this auction, so Bidder C wins the auction at $25,500, even though his maximum bid amount was $28,000.

Done

 

acesneights1

Member
1,449
21
20
Location
CT
I jumped in feet first and placed a bid. I got outbid but I can explain this a little better now than the tutorial they give.
Ok,
So you can basically bid whatever you want before the auction opens at 100 increments only over whatever the starting bid is. It won't show up on the auction yet but if someone else did the same thing and was higher, you get told rightaway you've been outbid, sort of like eBay does. However again, you still won't see any change in the auction price on the listing until the date and time it goes live. It's sort of a sealed virtual bid with the benefit of knowing whether your the high bidder..
Now when the listing reaches the start time and date and goes live, there is only a few mins where it will now update to whatever the highest previously placed bid is. If you get a higher bid in quick enough, the auction extends a few mins and someone else can also try to up the anty. If the other bidder ups you, it gets extended again and so on and so on. If no one does and the extension time expires...you are the proud new owner of ...well a tool in your future divorce...lol
Hope that simplifies it for anyone thinking about it.
 

doghead

4 Star General /Moderator
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I see, so it's like an auction.
 

Plane Fast

Member
408
3
18
Location
Panama city FL
Pre bid is not always a good idea. Example: Trailer I wanted had zero bids. So when it ran out of time, the auction relisted and dropped the price. I saved $200. Although, I have seen it where the item goes for more than the earlier no bid!
 

FloridaAKM

Well-known member
2,699
392
83
Location
Gainesville, Florida
Playing the prebid game, I won a trailer from Jacksonville, NAS, just by the no luck of the draw from any other higher bidders. I am happy with the results, I just don't like filing EUC's on winnings. Good luck on your auctions now that you figured them out.
 
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