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Player stats & fantasy

Fantasy Auction Budget Calculator

Auction drafts are lost by people who spend $180 on three players and fill nine slots at a dollar each. This tracks what you have left, what you must reserve to fill the roster, and the highest bid you can legally make at any moment.

$
$
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—the most you can bid right now

Suggested allocation under this strategy.
TierPlayersBudget eachTotalShare

The constraint that governs everything

max bid = budget remaining − (slots left to fill − 1) × minimum bid with $200, 16 slots and $1 minimums: opening max bid = 200 − 15 = $185

Every dollar committed reduces the ceiling for the rest of the draft. The mistake is not overspending on one player — it is arriving at the last six slots with $6 and no flexibility, which is how rosters end up with nine players nobody else wanted.

Stars and scrubs, honestly

The strategy works when the replacement level at your shallow positions is genuinely close to the mid-tier — then the dollars saved at the bottom cost you almost nothing. It fails in deep leagues where the waiver wire is barren, because the dollar players really are worthless there and three stars cannot carry seven holes.

The tactic that wins auctions. Nominate players you do not want early, while everyone still has money. It drains other budgets on someone else's roster and leaves you bidding into a thinner room later, when your dollars go further.

Questions people ask about this

How should I allocate a $200 fantasy auction budget?

A balanced approach spends roughly 60–70% on the top four or five players and leaves $1–3 for the final slots. The hard constraint is that you must reserve the minimum bid for every remaining slot, so with 16 slots and $1 minimums your opening maximum bid is $185, not $200.

What is the stars and scrubs strategy?

Spending most of the budget on three or four elite players and filling the rest of the roster at minimum bids. It works when replacement level is close to the mid-tier, so the dollars saved at the bottom cost little. In deep leagues where the waiver wire is empty it fails, because the scrubs really are worthless.

What is the maximum I can bid in an auction draft?

Your remaining budget minus the minimum bid for every slot you still have to fill after this one. Most platforms enforce this automatically, but knowing the number before you nominate is what stops you from being priced out of the last rounds entirely.

Where these numbers come from

Rates on this page were last checked against the published price lists on . Grading companies change fees and pause tiers without notice — confirm the total on the submission form before you pay.