Look at how many tokens you actually spent, on average, per player?
Look at how you bid, at busy and inactive times?

Consider the experience of the player you want to bid for?
Finally, look at the token cost when bidding?

In my experience, auction, saves you tokens, negotiations gets you experience.

Suggestion: make online friends, level 5,6,7,8,etc and know when to use then to approach with a bid....just before they become a 6 star or scout player.