Legendary's Clock All Messed Up

[Matt]

Lots with no bids in the last 30 minutes were supposed to be closed at 11:30 EST but they just added another 30 minutes to all lots.

[Rob D.]

I'm sure there's a very good reason.

[Matt]

By their rules, I just won a lot as it did not get any bids from the end of bidding through the 30 minute rule period. I'm going to bed.

[calvindog]

Yes, Matt, feel comforted that Mastro always follows 'their' rules.

[sox1903wschamp]

It's got me confused.

[Rob D.]

Via e-mail:

Legendary Auctions is extended each lot by 30 minutes because of a clerical error (the extended bidding function was not turned on because of our prior Live auction). Please accept our apologies for this mistake as we learn to shift gears between our Live and Web auctions.

Please go to your MyAccount page and refresh your screen to see the correct amount of time left on the lots you are bidding on.

Respectfully,

Legenary Auctions

[Matt]

I don't see the reason to extend - the auction site was still up and accepting bids - no lots closed early.

Jeff - are you saying you won't take my case if I get outbid?

[sox1903wschamp]

Yep, just got that email too. Nice!

[calvindog]

I just hope that fancy new trade association will get to the bottom of this.

[bcbgcbrcb]

The time seemed to be accurate originally not withstanding the mistake...............

[bcornell]

Find the clerk who made this error and don't spare the rod.

If that t204 lot goes for the current price ($18K), it would be bad karma to complain too loudly...


Bill

[Anthony S.]

Trying to figure out what Matt bid on so I can bid on it...

[glenv]

The edge of the catalog states the first lots close on Tuesday, 8/25. Figure we had an extra 24 hrs to the Wednesday close, so an extra 1/2 hour won't hurt...

[bcbgcbrcb]

At least the other bidders on the two lots I was going for did the honorable thing and did not place bids during the extra 30 minutes.

[Matt]

Nice to wake up and find I was outbid on both lots. One had bidding between 11:00 and 11:30 EST and I had bid my max so the "fix" didn't bother the outcome, but the other had no bids and should have closed at 11:30 with me as the winner.

[Bicem]

Sorry, that sucks Matt! Which lots?

[Jim VB]

That really sucks, Matt.

If only you knew some lawyers not afraid to tick Mastro, er, Legendary, off.

[iggyman]

I'm wavering on whether to reveal this....................but I found the clerk!

Lovely Day...

[Rob D.]

Does anyone know a way to access on Mastro's website the lots that ended last night (ones that you didn't place a bid on)?

[bobfreedman]

Originally Posted by Rob D.

Does anyone know a way to access on Mastro's website the lots that ended last night (ones that you didn't place a bid on)?

You can click on the link on the auction page (above the Search Box) or you can use this link (they both go to the same place) http://www.legendaryauctions.com/Auc...SessionsOnly=1

[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by bobfreedman

You can click on the link on the auction page (above the Search Box) or you can use this link (they both go to the same place) http://www.legendaryauctions.com/Auc...SessionsOnly=1

Thank you, Bob.

[calvindog]

Matt, you were the only one who had bid on the lot prior to 11:30? It sounds like the software allowed a new bidder to make their initial bid after the auction was supposed to end but before the "new" ending was imposed? Bob, perhaps you can address this. How could your software allow such a thing? Is this a glitch in the software or did someone from Legendary override the software to allow such a thing to happen?

[Matt]

Originally Posted by calvindog

Matt, you were the only one who had bid on the lot prior to 11:30? It sounds like the software allowed a new bidder to make their initial bid after the auction was supposed to end but before the "new" ending was imposed? Bob, perhaps you can address this. How could your software allow such a thing? Is this a glitch in the software or did someone from Legendary override the software to allow such a thing to happen?

No - I was the high bidder going into the 30 minute rule at 11 PM. At 11:30, when 30 minutes passed with no other bids, the lot should have closed to me, per their rules. Others had bid in the lot previously, but not during the 30 minutes. If I really needed the lot, I would have stayed up (I would not have left a max bid).

[calvindog]

Well, that's a relief, I'd hate to think that someone at Legendary was manipulating the auction in an inappropriate manner.

And Matt, you knew that the auction was extended for just a half hour so you had to know that there was a chance that you'd be outbid, no? Of course, there were no glitches up until 11:30 pm from what I've been told so why did the auction have to be extended past the scheduled closing time anyway? In essence, Legendary got the benefit of a 30 minute clock twice.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Matt

No - I was the high bidder going into the 30 minute rule at 11 PM. At 11:30, when 30 minutes passed with no other bids, the lot should have closed to me, per their rules. Others had bid in the lot previously, but not during the 30 minutes. If I really needed the lot, I would have stayed up (I would not have left a max bid).

It's unfortunate that the clock messed up. Auctioneers mainly work for their consignors. Legendary did exactly what they should have done in this instance, imho. If any auctioneers want to speak up I think they will concur. best regards

[Bicem]

Originally Posted by calvindog

Well, that's a relief, I'd hate to think that someone at Legendary was manipulating the auction in an inappropriate manner.

And Matt, you knew that the auction was extended for just a half hour so you had to know that there was a chance that you'd be outbid, no? Of course, there were no glitches up until 11:30 pm from what I've been told so why did the auction have to be extended past the scheduled closing time anyway? In essence, Legendary got the benefit of a 30 minute clock twice.

win anything Jeff? American League Pub Co. Detroit/Cobb was a sweet & rare postcard!

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Leon

It's unfortunate that the clock messed up. Auctioneers mainly work for their consignors. Legendary did exactly what they should have done in this instance, imho. If any auctioneers want to speak up I think they will concur. best regards

The system was not down - it was still accepting bids. There was no reason to extend 30 minutes as they fixed the issue several minutes before 11:30. I'm sure all consignors would like every auction to have a surprise extra bidding period after the first one was to end. In that sense, I'm very certain they did right by consignors.

[Bicem]

Originally Posted by calvindog

And Matt, you knew that the auction was extended for just a half hour so you had to know that there was a chance that you'd be outbid, no? Of course, there were no glitches up until 11:30 pm from what I've been told so why did the auction have to be extended past the scheduled closing time anyway? In essence, Legendary got the benefit of a 30 minute clock twice.

That's true, the auction was actually extended by the additional 30 mins a few minutes before 10:30 (central time) which was the original scheduled closing time. So even w/o the 30 mins, someone could have been planning on bidding at the very end on your lots anyway.

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by Bicem

win anything Jeff? American League Pub Co. Detroit/Cobb was a sweet & rare postcard!

Jeff, Doug banned me from his auction. I only hope that some kind soul who won that card as well as the Rose PC Chase in that big lot would sell it to me.

Did you get anything?

[oldjudge]

The problem with the auction, as I understand it, was that the clocks were not resetting when new bids came in. I think Legendary did exactly the right thing both to protect consignors and to allow competitive bidding. The first half of the auction had some extremely stong prices (a surprise in this economy). It will be interesting to see how things go tonight.

[eb548]

Im an auctioneer (real estate) and understand that they have a responsibility to their consigners. However first and foremost, they have a responsibility to abide by the terms and conditions of the auctions aka "THE RULES". If the auction says it ends at 11 oclock with a 30 minute rule to follow, these are the rules. These rules set the parameters for everyone. If we do not follow these rules than whats next for these auction houses and what do we have rules for?!?! Its bothers me when i see things like this happen...it just keeps hurting the hobby and integrity of some of the major outlets that we buy and sell cards through.

[oldjudge]

If you are an auctioneer then you should realize that when unexpected events happen during an auction adjustments must be made. What Legendary did was perfectly understandable and appropriate. Some people like whining just for the sake of whining,

[ubiqty]

Jeff P-
Did you win the NY Giants Rotograph? It looked like it was right up your alley.
Scott.

[quinnsryche]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

If you are an auctioneer then you should realize that when unexpected events happen during an auction adjustments must be made. What Legendary did was perfectly understandable and appropriate. Some people like whining just for the sake of whining,

Amen brother!

Like many of our fellow collectors, we were frustrated by the frozen clock

However, we spent 20 minutes on the phone with one of their Senior Executives whilst apologizing for the computer error, he did all that he could to assist us. In fact, he went above and beyond.

Computers do fail- just ask any frequent air traveler.

We think they did their best to correct the matter under difficult circumstances, at best. Looking to create an issue here is not appropriate.

We biid on 14 items last evening- competition was surprisingly strong especially for the Dingman Post card set. We dropped out late, but were not prepared to go $9000 (with the premium)

We did win three terrific items- and one of which was about half of what we were prepared to pay.

Hope all works out this evening for the bidders and for Legendary.


Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest Want List
bdorskind@dorskindgroup.com

[Bicem]

Congrats - which items Bruce?

Scott - I did not win the Rotograph, will have to keep looking.

[Jewish-collector]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

If you are an auctioneer then you should realize that when unexpected events happen during an auction adjustments must be made. What Legendary did was perfectly understandable and appropriate. Some people like whining just for the sake of whining,

Jay,

That deserves a

[eb548]

OLD JUDGE>> Being that you are an old "judge," you should realize that following rules are important even when circumstances arise.

Answer this your honor..Why do we bother having a set time for an auction to end? Why bother with rules? An irresponsibile act such as forgetting to reset a clock is an unexpected event? An unexpected event is a snow storm, hurricane, a downed server.

Im not here to start anything nor am i here to whine contrary to popular opinion. If indeed someone did not reset the clock than i understand legendary thought it necessary to take measures to rectify their screw up. Whether i agree with the measure taken is not being contested. It is that there were terms and conditions for these auctions that all of us had to accept in order to bid which dictated the rules we all need to abide by. Legendary and any auction house has a responsibility to abide by them as well and should have taken all steps necessary to ensure they are followed. They did not in this case. This was very much avoidable and should not become the norm where an auction house can extend bidding because of any excuse and as a bidder you "just have to live with it."

I do not post frequently nor am I a long time member here. But i have read a lot of concerns (not whining) that people (not whiners) just want a straight, fair, and honest auction when bidding. It is not too much to ask. I am not calling out legendary in particular because I do not know them well enough and this could very well have been an isolated instance and from now on they will be more careful. But i do see what has been happening in the auction industry as a whole and it is not good for the future.

[calvindog]

I agree that if computer glitches occur, the house should have the option of extending the bidding. Problem is, it happens with Legendary way too often. And EB is right: we all just want an honest auction without being told what is good for us.

As for the prices, there were some strong ones but many more weak ones. I've spoken to a few people privately today including some major dealers and they agreed.

And Jeff, that was a pretty sick Giants Rotograph.

[nycguy]

Eb548 – you are absolutely right. You may just be venting to the wrong folks. I bid in last night’s auction as well and was frustrated by the extended clock. I’ve seen so much BS with sports auctions over the years that my expectations for a fair and honest process have pretty much disappeared. I’ve found that auctions--particularly sports auctions--are largely about keeping the consignors happy, even if that means ignoring some terms and conditions from time to time. G'luck to all.

[insidethewrapper]

The clock had me confused also, but a big plus is how the lots ended individually. I was in bed just a little after midnight EST. That's great.

[Bicem]

Originally Posted by calvindog

As for the prices, there were some strong ones but many more weak ones. I've spoken to a few people privately today including some major dealers and they agreed.

And Jeff, that was a pretty sick Giants Rotograph.

Thought the postcard prices overall were pretty strong, a few steals but also a few strong prices.

The Rotograph was a little pricey for me, they come up, I'll wait for the next one.

[tbob]

[QUOTE=Yankeefan51;832121]

We did win three terrific items- and one of which was about half of what we were prepared to pay.
Bruce Dorskind
[QUOTE]

What did you win, Bruce? I'm sure Doug won't mind if you reveal what you bought.

[oldjudge]

Nice auction! Old Judge cabinet prices were very strong, both graded last night and ungraded tonight.