The trick is being at the right place at the right time. Know exactly what the item is worth, and know exactly the limit you are willing to bid on it. A bidding war starts when at least 2 people want the same item. A lot of scoring something is luck. The tractor I bought at an auction, I got for the top price I was willing to pay. I was willing to pay $5000 for it. The bidding went quickly to $5000, and I got that bid, I expected someone to outbid me and I would have been done, but to my surprise, the bidding stopped. Pure luck. Sometimes you have to go to a bunch of auctions before you find what you want. Also, frequent some local auctions, after a while you start to know what certain things will go for.