Disturbing.......
 

I just got an email from an auction house telling me what the high bidder's ceiling bid is and if i take the next bid, Im the high bidder. Has anyone ever heard of this? Auction is ending tonight!

Disturbing...
 

is the adjective that comes to my mind.

What auction house?
Very unethical and probable hidden reserve

It's probably nothing.


Sincerely,

Guy in denial

It was NOT SportscardLink and they told me if I went one more bid, I would get the card.

Agreed

Ok...so what auction house?:confused:

In my opinion...

You shouldn't even start a thread like this without going all in with the information.

And, the title should be "Disturbing..." not "Interesting..."

Doug

[QUOTE=doug.goodman;946070]In my opinion...

You shouldn't even start a thread like this without going all in with the information.

And, the title should be "Disturbing..." not "Interesting..."

Doug[/QUOTE


I was asking if anyone has ever heard of this before. Its not easy to figure out which auction it was. It was not ebay or Sportscardlink. It was a Joe Jackson card and I was told if I made one more bid, the card would be mine. I now believe there was probably a hidden reserve because how would they know that I wouldnt have gotten outbid.

From the information provide, the following auction house is outed:

Vintage Authentics: Link

In my opinion, I dont know if this is possible but there has to be a way where Auction Houses do not what the ceiling bids are on their items.

Why not just say the name of the auction house and provide details if you're troubled with this. Put your full name in the post and all is good and you let folks know. :confused:

Why all the cloak and dagger stuff that seems just as odd to me.

I'm with Doug if you're going to start a thread like thi sand have no info short of vague inputs it really doesn't draw attention or leave anything for discussion.

John

That site seems to be using the same software that many of the other auction sites use; granted, the others don't send the email, but should we be uneasy that the software lets the auction owners see the max bids?

My point was whether this was normal? Im new to the pre-war hobby? Im not looking to report a crime. I just think its disturbing that auction houses know ceiling bids!

I dont think they should be allowed to know the ceiling bids!

For the record
 

Brockelman & Luckey uses Create Auction's software and have no ability to see ceiling bids, nor if a ceiling bid is even in place by a bidder, for all we know there may be 1 or 100 or none. Create Auction's is NOT the software of the auction house in question. Other auction software may be different.

First off, Vintage Authentics is run by Steve Jensen who was arrested at the National, no?

Vintage Authentics
 

Jeff, good catch. I think you are right.

Zach Wheat

Yep

Vintage Sports Authentics - Steve Jensen arrested

Gee, probably not a good thing for a sentencing judge to know.

Good thing the FBI doesn't read this board. *COUGH*

A woman from Minnesota once broke my heart, so I'm wary of anything from that state.

Never dated anyone from New Jersey, so Lelands is fine as far as I know.

most likely a hidden reserve that wasn't met
thus the email to legitimate bidders

Is there a problem with sportscardlink auction house? I registered, bid and won last night. I am missing something?

This brings a whole new meaning to auction assistant...

Can anyabody here prove the auctioneer isn't clairvoyant? Well, can anyone prove the auctioneer isn't clairvoyant? Huh, just putting that out there....

Has the auctioneer been CONVICTED (not just indicted, but actually CONVICTED) of a crime related to fraudlant dealing in sports cards and sports memorabilia?

Are we going to use the court of public opinion to slam this poor soul?

Ah what the hell, why not... it's FRIDAY!!!!

Eidted to add the obligatory SMILEY FACE! :)

Steve,

I think you are fine. I have never had any problems with SportsCard Link Auctions. They are referring to another auction house...coincidentally the two auctions ended at the same time.

Zach

Yeah, quick FYI, "game worn jersey" may simply mean that Steve Jensen wore that jersey to a game.

Steven, I didn't interpret that he was saying or insinuating anything against Sportslink. I think he was just weeding out active auctions.

Hilarious!

I bid with the assumption that the auction house DOES see my ceiling bid, and that they will be honest with how they use that info. If I feel that there is a chance that they will NOT be honest with that info, then I do not give them a ceiling bid.

Ultimately, I know what I am willing to pay for an item. If the bidding goes above that, I stop. Prior to that number, if I think that I am being shilled, it's a case by case basis, I may stop, I may not.

That's just me.

For me, if an auction company were to come right out and say "the bidding on this item stopped at $X and we shilled it to $Y" I might treat that like a reserve. If it's still under the $Z that I am willing to pay, well why not?

That's just me.

I assume people are honest, it works for me, even though it's often a stupid thing for me to do. When I get f'd (oops, sorry, thanx for the edit Leon), I take it as part of the cost of doing business, find whatever glimmer of a silver lining that I can to cling to. Denial isn't always a bad thing (insert smiley face here).

It's a HOBBY

It is (supposed to be) FUN

For those of you who it is a business for, my way doesn't work, I get it.

On my way to place the only kind of ebay bid I know - a snipe.
Wish me luck,
Doug

Since I'm usually chasing cheap stuff I'm ok with an auction knowing my max bid. It's no different than leaving a left bid for a live auction or bidding in a mail auction.

I have seen a few odd things with live auctions. One antique auction the auctioneer really disliked left bids. He'd start at the starting price,announcing that there was a left bid if the bidder left instructions, and would announce the left bid limit during bidding if the bidding was falling short. If there were no instructions he'd often start at the max of the left bid. (After a few visits I never considered leaving a bid)

I also had one live auction respond to the question"How close was I on X" with the info that I'd been right at the limit of the left bid and I could have the item for one increment more. I declined as this happened during checkout, and I didn't want to cause them problems if the winning bidder had friends in the audience. Plus I'd already spent the ammount I'd budgeted on some later items.

Steve B

Any internet auction house that has access to the auction website database file such as a SQL or Access file, can look to see what the so called secret max bid is. Wether they do that or not, only they would know and would never admit to it. It's the database that does the automated proxy bidding so the information is in there along with all your personal info when signing up to the site. It's basically a giant complex spreadsheet of info. Me personally, don't think they should see your max bid. It becomes an ethics type of issue with a potential for possible fraud.

Did you win the card Jim?

Sportscardlink is not the auction house in question. Sportscardlink is run by Chris Porter whom I have known for years and believe he runs an honest business. I have only had the best dealings with Chris.
JimB

Doesn't Josh Nathanson run Sportscardlink? Josh used to live just a few blocks from me, but I'm wondering if he left Brooklyn and moved to Maine.

Totally different situation. My sportslink win from last night is already in the mail.

But I just got a call that a few hours after I paid with CC, about 2k in transactions went on my CC for UK online shops and about 4 others declined. First time I used my CC online in a while. :(

Does your CC offer Shopsafe, Chris? Mine has a service called "Shopsafe" where you can log into the CC company web site and get a temporary card number with a spending limit you can set for a single use. I use it whenever I do online shopping after an incident several years ago similar to yours. It is really great for not worrying about the security at the merchant sites.

wrong or right
 

I guess its a little wrong...I dont know....I not a big auction guy..but if I called in a bid...I would think it " OK" for the auction house to say..." sorry your still low...youd have to go to $ XXX. to be the new high bidder

RalphG

Is that because you paid through the sportslink site or did that happen unrelated, I only ask because I won an auction last night and paid by credit card too.

I don't know Josh Nathanson, but I believe Chris was hired last year to run the card side of it. Isn't there a related comic division?
JimB

Yes Jim. Josh is a big time comic book dealer. My understanding is Josh is still the owner of the baseball card division, but I may be out of the loop on this. I went onto his site recently and saw the phone number and address was for Maine. Don't know if he took the business north, or if he is still located in Brooklyn.

I am unsure when my cc info was taken but its an odd coincidence that the first time I use it online in months (99% of my purchases are paypal/moneyorder) and within hours its tracked on 4 different UK websites.

I have called SCL and left a VM for a call back. Still excited to get that card :D

O ok I will just monitor my card then too afraid too see the high balance that I racked though :p. I am totally excited about getting my 48 Leaf Larry Doby. I thought I was done with post war but that baby was screaming my name I had to bid. Plus I do not know when I will ever see that card in nicer low grade condition again it seems more rare then some rare 19th century and rare pre WWI cards out there. I have been searching for one for 1 year now.

Just spoke to Chris at SportsLink and after working with their IT team, we are fairly confident that this was not related to their site or recent auction.

Yea I have had no issues I called my credit card company shortly afterward and nothing suspicious. I would also like to add that they shipped my card out yesterday, nice fast service!

I actually received my card yesterday, just as descibed without any problems.