Done in by DST? Your thoughts, please

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Posted By: Mark

Okay, so I decided to auction a T202 Chase Gets Ball Too Late graded SGC 80 on ebay to free up some cash. I'm thinking it will bring $600, maybe more. I listed the card on Thursday, October 27, to end Sunday, November 6. I don't usually do ten day auctions, but I wanted it to end on a Sunday night. Anyway, I check on it from time to time, and I mentally note that the auction started at 9:48. I assume it will end at 9:48 on the last day. Sunday, Nov. 6 rolls around, and I decide to check on it at 9:00 to see how I am doing. To my surprise, the auction has already ended - at 8:48. And, it only brings $307. SO, I'm wondering, did some of my potential bidders look at the start time, assume the end time would be the same, and not visually scroll down to see the true end time? Did they, therefore, miss out on bidding because the auction ended sooner than they expected? Am I right in thinking $307 is an extremely low price for this card? I did the research before listing, and other T202 commons graded 80 seemed to bring $600 plus. If Daylight Savings Time did cause this card to sell for much less than it should have, should I refuse to sell it and take the negative feedback that will likely follow? Should I complain to ebay, which would likely be a waste of time? Your thoughts would be appreciated.

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Posted By: Bill Stone

Complete the transaction--whether or not you should have noticed the time difference it wasn't the bidders' fault and it is not worth the negative feedback- plus it would be terribly unfair to the high bidder.

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Posted By: identify7

If your reputation is worth more than the amount of money which you consider you lost on this transaction, then do not renege on the deal.

If the money is more important than your reputation, then refuse to honor your auction.

But next time, you may want to consider a reserve.

Edited to add: I wish this did not sound so heartless Mark, I know that $300 takes a number of sales to recoup, if you are typically selling lesser items.

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Posted By: barrysloate

You have to sell the card, as you had the option to place a reserve and you chose not to. We have all sold cards for less than we thought we should. You just move on and get 'em the next time.

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Posted By: Darren J. Duet

Hold true to the transaction.

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Posted By: John S

If I am going to spend $100 or so or more on an auction, I read specific comments (positives and negatives) from the seller's feedback. I am sure that many others do this as well. Honor your sale....your reputation as an individual and seller is more valuable that the $300 that you may have missed.

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Posted By: Mark

the transaction, and conider it a lesson learned. Never launch an auction when a time change is iminent! However, I do think ebay could find a better way to handle these situations.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

You will have something sell for more than you expected in the future.

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Posted By: cmoking

"SO, I'm wondering, did some of my potential bidders look at the start time, assume the end time would be the same, and not visually scroll down to see the true end time?"

I also look at the time left til the end of the auction. I almost never notice the actual start time. I doubt anyone missed bidding on your card due to the start time issue.

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Posted By: Anthony

The winning bidder sniped it with 7 seconds left, assuming he used a snipe service the adjustment was made by that service. I think you just got caught by not having 2 guys go hard after it- or, as Julie posted, according to Lifson most T202 buyers want them in PSA slabs for the registry.

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Posted By: Julie Vognar

All did very well. I have done No research into T202s (although 107 of mine will be in the REA auction), but when I commented to a friend that the base price in the 2006 catalogue had risen dramatically, he said "Yeah, but they don't actually sell for $500 in near mint, ungraded."

Now I'm going to look on eBay.

There were about 10 completed items graded by SGC--yours was the only common graded that high (there was a 60 or two, selling for lower prices). Only the Cobbs, even in lower grades, really did well.

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Posted By: Lee Behrens

I think the start & finish time had absolutey nothing to do with the ending price, if you have a watch on it it always tell you the ending time. I think you might have benefited from being bumped up an hour on Sunday's, I know the later the suction gets on Sunday the more bored I getted trying to filter through all the auctions and either quit or overlook some auctions.

As far as the price, T202's vary greatly on the card (common or HOFer) some are definately more common than others and those great pop reports do make a difference.

If you look at the final realized prices for T202's on ebay the only 80/6's that are getiing anything close to $600 all have HOFers and almost all did not get to $600. My guess is you got a fair price just your expectation were a little high. There were plenty of T202's lately with reserves that did not meet the reserve.

Lee