One other thing to remember is that the auctioneer is very, very good at his job.
If he has a commission bid in front of him, he will open the bidding and take bids (as far as possible) so that the specific commission bid will be arrived at if it gets that far.
As an example, if I bid £380 on a guncase and it is knocked down to £380, I am almost certain that I have got it. Even if the bids climbed from £200 with bids from the floor against me, it will arrive at £380 with me if it runs that far. It may run on but if it stops at £380, I know from experience, it is almost certainly mine.
I got a case at the latest sale for £320 but I had placed a commission bid of £380. There obviously wasn't strong interest and watching the bidding online, it petered out at £320. Happy days!
