[Archive]

Posted By: barrysloate

Jim and others- as you may imagine, I have put a lot of thought into the auction process. And the one thing I agree on that is the worst aspect of all auctions is how late they go. Most people simply can not stay up. Also, there is no incentive for people to bid early. If an auction closes at 6:00 PM for initial bids, but has a history of going late into the night, you can be sure there are people who will wait 6 hours or more before they even think about bidding.

And I believe that is a flaw in the system. Any one of these auction houses could condense that time, most of which is dead air, by implementing some novel ways of closing. I've decided to try the decreasing clock method, since the later an auction goes, the closer a bidder is to his maximums and the less time he will need.

I'm not saying REA or Mastro leave money on the table, as they get phenomenal prices. But some of Mastro's lots undoubtedly have closed before a bidder got to them; and REA's is interminable. Each system has a problem in the way they close.