PWCC - need collector feedback on auction format

[Brent Huigens]

Fellow Collectors,

We need some feedback from folks regarding our auction format and the future structure of our auctions on eBay.

Historically, for each monthly auction we have listed items 1min apart over the course of 10-14 days. Our growing company has bumped up against some interesting limitations and we may need to structure things slightly different in the months to come...

If given a choice, what would folks prefer from the following two options:

1) Items continue to run as is, 1min apart, over the course of 5+ hours each evening
2) List items 2 per minute and have those items close over a shorter period of time

Option 1) will keep things as they are but will force items to close over time periods which are 'less desirable' in the eyes of some collectors (i.e. early afternoon on Sundays or early or very late evenings during week days).

Option 2) would force 2 items to sell for every 1min interval but would allow us to focus the closings over a shorter period of time that folks may consider more 'prime time'.

Feedback would be appreciated.

Brent Huigens
PWCC Auctions, LLC

[scooter729]

My vote would be for 2 per minute. As an East Coast guy, I hate auctions which end at 12 AM - 1 AM+ ET. The more things which could end around 10 PM ET the happier it would make me!

[Exhibitman]

Doesn't really matter to me; I snipe anyway...

[Bocabirdman]

When auctions for which I am the top bidder end one on top of the other, I generally accept defeat when I am outbid and move on. If there is some time between the auctions, I am more likely to re-allocate the money, bumping my max bid on auctions coming up. With no time to decide or think, I resist making a rash bid and scroll the next day's listings. A couple minutes apart would be just enough time to think and act on an impulse after losing out.

[autograf]

snipe...snipe....snipe....

[esquiresports]

I would go with option 2. The odds of two items wanted by a single bidder (who is not auto-sniping) closing within 30 seconds of each other are probably relatively slim. Regardless, that gives enough time for a non-auto-sniping bidder to get in on both.

[Leon]

I almost always snipe so not sure it matters, but if it did, I would pick option 2. Good luck Brent and thanks again for your advertising on the board.

[EvilKing00]

option 2 would be my choice as well, but I do snipe a lot but not all the time

[AMBST95]

I tend to like option 2. It's a tight window for the non-sniper, like myself. I may be less inclined to bid with a 30 sec window vs a 1 min window, if I lost out last second on the first card. As a consigner, I would like the prime time listing above all.

[cyseymour]

I would vote two minutes so that it gives people time to think after they won/lost on a previous item.

I would also, if you are auctioning cards from the same set, put the most expensive cards to end earliest. That way people aren't saving funds for large cards later and will know that if they lost out on the most expensive cards, they still have money remaining for the cheaper cards. That maximizes prices and helps collectors as well, since they won't be stuck with nothing if they were waiting for the bigger card and then got outbid. Hope that makes sense.

[jhs5120]

Either one works well, but I will say, having only one item end at a time is more importnat to me than having my item end at midnight.

[Runscott]

irrelevant to me - I generally snipe, and rarely bid over market value.

[JeremyW]

I would vote two minutes so that it gives people time to think after they won/lost on a previous item.

I would also, if you are auctioning cards from the same set, put the most expensive cards to end earliest. That way people aren't saving funds for large cards later and will know that if they lost out on the most expensive cards, they still have money remaining for the cheaper cards. That maximizes prices and helps collectors as well, since they won't be stuck with nothing if they were waiting for the bigger card and then got outbid. Hope that makes sense.

I agree.

[glchen]

As a consignor to the most recent PWCC auction, I am somewhat disgruntled with the prices realized for my consignments. Obviously, some of this is due to the luck involved with 7 day ebay auctions that start at 99 cents and hoping that the right people are looking at your auctions during that time period. However, my worst performing consignments ended before 5pm PST on a Sunday, while the one that ended after 5pm PST did okay.

My opinion is that PWCC should try to stick within the 5pm PST to 8pm PST window for auction close times Sunday - Thursday. I really like the auction format by era and sport. As a buyer I typically look through most of the auctions for PWCC as opposed to another large consignment house like Probstein which auctions a general mishmash of stuff all of the time. Since PWCC is gaining more and more consignments, I don't know the best strategy for this, especially if they want to try to keep the 1 minute interval between auction endings. Perhaps they can spread the auction over more days (e.g., instead of 1-1/2 weeks, go to 2-1/2 weeks). Or perhaps they can create another ebay id, such as prewarcardcollector2, where one id is baseball, and the other id is other sports. Then for one day like Monday, one id can list baseball from 5-8pm PST and the other id can list football at the same time.

Given what happened to me at the last PWCC auction, I would pause before consigning again. For an auction house like Heritage or Goodwin, my items are usually available for bidding 30+ days, and there is also a nice catalog too. Granted the BP for those places is 20%, but with ebay fees continuing to rise, PWCC's consignment fees have also been affected. The distinct advantage PWCC has is lightning fast payout. From the time that I drop my consignment off at PWCC to when I receive my payout is around a month. For most of the larger auction houses, there is a consignment deadline usually a month before the auction opens, and then payout is not until 30 days after the auction ends. Therefore, there can be a nearly 3 months period between when your cards leave your hand to when you get paid.

[conor912]

As a sniper, I'm actually pretty shocked you're considering 2/minute. Even at 1 per minute I miss out on many items simply because I don't have time to verify my previous win (or loss), refresh, go to the next item, verify my ceiling in my notes, and bid. It already seems like a borderline free-for-all/clusterf*** as it is. That's my two cents anyways.

If you're growing that much, why limit yourself to auctions ending only one week out of the month? Why not just go to a continuous strategy? I realize it wouldn't give you the "event" to market, but how much can you really cram into a small window?

[calvindog]

Ummm Brent, maybe you could respond to Peter's thread about your auctions? It's just an inch or two away on the front page.

[deucetwins]

A computer, a Kindle, and an iPhone. All on different items ready to manually snipe. Auto-sniping takes the fun out of it. Creates joy and frustration all at the same time. I like the card value tier system idea previously mentioned.

[slipk1068]

The way it is now, 1 minute apart works well for me. Seems like often, the cards I like are ending 1 minute apart. If I lose a card, it gives me time to attempt to snipe the next 1.

Any ending time works for me. If I can't make it for an auction close, I just put in a max bid of the amount I am willing to pay. If someone snipes it for more than that, I am fine because I wasn't willing to pay that much, and they obviously wanted the card more than I did.

[Brent Huigens]

Thanks to all that responded... much appreciated.

Brent
PWCC

[calvindog]

Wish we could say the same for you!

[the-illini]

Removed due to Brent's response in other thread.