I had good luck in an auction, lately. I maintain searches for certain items on online auctions. Whenever something I want is scheduled, I do my research to determine authenticity and ask questions of the auctioneer if necessary. Sadly, I have limited means and my low-ball bids are quickly overcome by someone with deeper pockets. One of my desired items was in an auction held on last Christmas Eve with no reserve and a low starting bid. A similar item was in the preceding lot. Those lots went live during half-time of a football game and I noticed that the similar item sold low with very few bids. In the next lot, my low-ball bid had only one response and I won the item with only one raise. I paid roughly 1/3 of its true value. Moral of the story: If selling in an auction, be sure that it will not be held on a holiday and put a reserve on it. It is better to have your item passed at low bids than to sell it cheap.