Auction Bid Increments
The auctioneer will incease the increments between bids as the price of the lot gets higher. In general, they will request bids of approximately 10% higher than the previous bid. The set sequence of increments will vary between auction houses, but the table below shows a common incremental pattern used in many.
Make sure you attend your auction early; this will give you the opportunity to listen to other lots being sold, and will get you used to the style of bidding increment used by the saleroom.
An Example of Bidding Increments
| Current Price | Bid Increment |
|---|---|
| 0 - 100 | by 5's |
| 100 - 200 | by 10's |
| 200 - 300 | by 20's |
| 300 - 500 | by 20, 50, 80 (i.e. 420, 450, 480) |
| 500 - 1,000 | by 50's |
| 1,000 - 2,000 | by 100's |
| 2,000 - 3,000 | by 200's |
| 3,000 - 5,000 | by 200, 500, 800 (i.e. 3,200, 3,500, 3,800) |
| 5,000 - 10,000 | by 500's |
| 10,000 - 20,000 | by 1,000's |
| 20,000 - 30,000 | by 2,000's |
| 30,000 - 50,000 | by 2,000, 5,000, 8,000 (i.e. 42,000, 45,000, 48,000) |
| 50,000 - 100,000 | by 5,000 |
| 100,000 - 500,000 | by 10,000 |
