Auctions can be stressful regardless of what position you’re in, but certain behaviours during the heat of the moment can seriously hurt your chances, and you might not even know it.
That’s the message from Australian buyer’s agent, Dion Marsden, with eight years of experience in the field. Speaking to Yahoo News, he said even simple acts like inviting companions to come along, to chatting while the auction’s underway, can unwittingly send signals to both the auctioneer and the seller.
The Melbourne man said it’s all about coming in with a game plan and knowing how to keep a poker face.
There is a serious ‘mental toll’ that underquoting can take on house hunters. (Source: Domain/Getty)
How are Aussies being tripped up at auctions?
He warned that bringing your parents in particular can have consequences. “Buyers can get really emotional, but often the parents get more emotional because they care more about the kids purchasing the property,” he said.
“And quite often, they’ll also then decide that they want to put money in, it’s just a formula setting yourself up to fail,” Dion said, because that tells the auctioneer, and the other bidders in the room, that you’re at the end of your budget.
“You’re pretty much revealing to everyone else that you’re in a position of weakness,” he said. Essentially, it tells everyone else they’ve got the upper hand, which can embolden competitors to keep bidding and drive the price well beyond the property’s true value.
“They’re going to want you to push harder — they can’t help themselves. They’ll come over and start chatting to you. And that’s also a big no-no,” Dion said.
There are certain dos and don’ts when bidding at an auction. Source: Getty
And while talking during an auction might seem natural, and even beneficial, it’s a dead giveaway that you’re about to buckle.
“The only reason buyers chat during an auction is pretty much because they need to discuss their plan,” he said. “Even if you’re not close to your budget, and you start chatting, buyers will still think you’re close to your budget, and then they’ll keep bidding, and ultimately push you to pay more.
“You’re telling the other buyers close to their budget, if they push a little bit harder, they’ll knock you out — you’re giving off signals that you’re almost done.”
Don’t bid too low at an auction
Another way buyers often shoot themselves in the foot, Dion revealed, is by starting bids too low.
Underquoting is common, and when buyers open at the lower end, it only builds confidence and momentum for the competition. Instead, he said you should ignore the quote and start bidding closer to what the property is actually worth. That makes other bidders uncomfortable, reduces the number of people willing to compete, and gets the auction to the serious end much faster.
Dion said the trick is to try and keep your emotions in check.
“The reality is, buyers are only getting emotional because they don’t go in with a game plan. If you set a strict budget, if you set a budget of pricing, you know that you’re not going to go above that, then you’ve got no problem going and bidding up to that,” he said.
“The problem occurs when buyers start pushing their budget because then they’re going outside of the plan they’ve set, and then that’s when buyers overpay or get emotional and regret it.”
Agent’s best advice for auctions
The Melburnian urged house hunters to consider that “not every property sold is a good buy”.
“They have to understand that,” he said. “You have to know your walk-away price. And often buyers will pay too much. Too much is when you go over your own budget or your own plan, and what you’re prepared to pay, and that’s not a good buy.
“They have to understand that going into it, if you weren’t comfortable paying it during the week, you certainly wouldn’t be comfortable paying it on the weekend.
“At the end of the day, you just stick your hand in the air and wave it above, and they take your bid, and hopefully you got more money than everyone else, or appear to have more money.”
Auction numbers at an all-time high
Auction activity across Australia’s capital cities is expected to hit its strongest level since the pre-Easter rush last year, with 3,245 homes slated to go under the hammer this week, figures from CoreLogic show.
This represents a 5.8 per cent lift on last week’s tally of 3,068 and sits 12 per cent higher than the same week in 2024, when 2,898 properties were listed.
Sydney is gearing up for its busiest auction week of 2025, with 1,332 homes set to go to market, noticeably higher than last week’s 1,186 and the 1,098 offered a year ago. Melbourne follows closely with 1,381 auctions on the books. While that’s marginally below the 1,388 held last week, it still exceeds the 1,340 recorded this time last year and marks the seventh week in 2025 where the city has surpassed the 1,300-auction mark.
Among the smaller capitals, Brisbane leads with 220 auctions, up from 209. Adelaide has climbed to 159, rising from 130, while Canberra is set for 144 auctions after recording 136 last week. Perth will host nine auctions, a drop from 16, and Tasmania has no auctions scheduled after three took place last week.
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