Extended to 1230

Unable to bid down again

REA is broken. Maybe we'll find out tomorrow who won?

#fakenews

Site down for me now. I quit.

how am I getting outbid when I haven't been able to get in for 30+ mins??

Same.

LOL, at least Mastro can’t be blamed for crashing the site. Time to go to the bullpen for Rob.

I guess I need to start taking the monday after REA off or at least the morning for sleep! I love the earlier close. Not so much tonight.

I am in the camp of people that would like to go to bed.

“Under no circumstances will the auction continue beyond 12 AM Midnight EST.”

Does this mean that any bids after midnight will be nullified?

12:35 AM and still continuing? Maybe this will end up at 5:30 like the old days.

LOL, at least Mastro can’t be blamed for crashing the site. Time to go to the bullpen for Rob.

I can't get on the site? Is the auction over?

It would be good if REA e-mailed me to let me know what is going on? I only found out about the 12:30 deadline from this site.

Hopefully they’ll extend it all nite so I can try, but fail to log in or bid.

So I guess 12:30 was a soft close...

I feel for the consignors and the bidders both.

But dang, we're now in double-OT, well past 12:30, which was supposedly the very end.
Got the max bids in before midnight like a good boy, with now an extra 45 minutes of last-second sniping by fellow bidders every time the clock ticks down another 5 minutes.

Not life or death, but not really enjoying being the midnight snack for the passing vultures...:rolleyes:

.

Apparently...

:(

That would be great if none of us had anything going on tomorrow. Not the case for me.

+1

I think they should move the close to tomorrow night 9 pm EST with a hard close at 11 pm EST and get things fully straightened out.

But the anxiety to wait another day lol

I'd cancel every bid from 11:30 EST on and keep it going until tomorrow -- ending at 11 pm.

Tapping out
 

I haven't been able to log-in in quite a while (system error, etc etc)...As far as i am concerned it ended at 12:00 No idea if any of my bids are still standing or not, i have been getting outbid notices so someone is able to bid, just not I.. I'm tapping out, i will find out if i won anything in the morning.

This auction is like the energizer bunny.

Ditto

Just in....

"We thank all participants for their patience during tonight's server issues. We have been working tirelessly to address it with our service providers. This is an extenuating circumstance for which we greatly apologize.

Since our last e-mail, service to the site was interrupted and as a result we are extending the auction in accordance with section 25 of our Terms & Conditions to accommodate all bidders and consignors. This is a situation beyond our control.

We understand this is less than ideal for everyone, including us, but we are working to be fair to all bidders and consignors. We are in the final process of inputting bids with phone bidders and internet bidders alike. We are keeping the auction open until such time that access to site is consistent for a period of 15 minutes. THE EXACT ENDING TIME WILL BE UNKNOWN SO PLEASE DO NOT DELAY! The entire auction will close at once.

We encourage bidders to use Honest Auto Bid to avoid disappointment. That is the best way to ensure you are not locked out of the action."

We thank all participants for their patience during tonight's server issues. We have been working tirelessly to address it with our service providers. This is an extenuating circumstance for which we greatly apologize.

Since our last e-mail, service to the site was interrupted and as a result we are extending the auction in accordance with section 25 of our Terms & Conditions to accommodate all bidders and consignors. This is a situation beyond our control.

We understand this is less than ideal for everyone, including us, but we are working to be fair to all bidders and consignors. We are in the final process of inputting bids with phone bidders and internet bidders alike. We are keeping the auction open until such time that access to site is consistent for a period of 15 minutes. THE EXACT ENDING TIME WILL BE UNKNOWN SO PLEASE DO NOT DELAY! The entire auction will close at once.

We encourage bidders to use Honest Auto Bid to avoid disappointment. That is the best way to ensure you are not locked out of the action.

More information will be communicated as it is available.

Frustrating for bidders and really unfortunate for consignors. Has anyone from the AH sent out an email since their last post here which indicated a 12:30 close? I am assuming the 12:30 close was picked under the presumption their server was working, which it seems it is not.

I am done. Still winning some things (I think) but I am not wasting any more time trying to figure out where I stand.

I know Brian and company are doing all they can but this royally sucks for anyone who can’t stay up all night on a Sunday night hoping servers work to babysit their bids. Just airing my frustrations. I realize it is multiple times more frustrating for REA.

Well I just got jacked for an extra $700 bucks because this auction didn't close when it was supposed to.

I understand the need to give everyone a fair chance to bid, but the site has been working intermittently. Anyone who really wanted to bid has had a chance to.

The Consigners have been fairly served. Now it's those of us with high protective bids out there who are exposed. We're the only ones taking any risk any longer. :mad:

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Likely right behind you Chris.

Lots of truth here.

Same here. I am a thousand bucks poorer because of that. Almost hope I get outbid.

A 5% reduction on the BP on the invoices might be a good idea.

I was actually thinking the same thing Jeff. Solid idea.

+1.... except for the part about hoping to be outbid.

Ugh
 

I wish this was true. Lost $600 on a vulture trying to snipe well after midnight. I understand that this is frustrating for everyone involved, including REA to be sure but I concur that everyone has had an amble chance to bid. We had two weeks to set up bids, then postings saying 'don;t wait until the end', then 2+ overtimes. Apparently many people did wait until the end, and that created capacity issues. Have to get up in a few hours, not sure what else to say except it sure is disappointing.

It has been 15 minutes since the last email and servers seem to be working. Let’s close this thing!

Very well said.

Oh, I thought it was THIS 12:30AM


I'll check back much, much later...some of us still operate on some sleep.


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The latest email allows for the auction to be kept open as long as it takes to make sure consignors are satisfied.

Tightrope
 

There's a balance between keeping both consignors and bidders happy....right now it's a tightrope.

Would be easier to accept if they hadn’t extended it twice already and said the auction was closing 50 minutes ago.

Still not working and utter bullshit.

There has been extremely ample time to get bids in. Bidders getting the short end for sure.

right
 

Amen.

As a consignor i am not happy... i am trying to get to the landing pages for my items and the page wont load... if i cant get there how are bidders supposed to get there???

I understand your frustration but there has been a LOT of time to get there.

I actually have a lot of sympathy for Brian and the folks at REA. This wasn't in the plans, and I'm sure they've struggled to come up with anything that seemed remotely fair on the fly.

Sadly, in trying to keep the Consignors happy, it's allowed the auction to take it to a whole new zone of increasing bids that would have never materialized otherwise. They've got a huge challenge in trying to make this right over the next week or so.

Cosigners are going to want full price. Buyers aren't going to want to pay extra money they unfairly accrued in overtime (It will not continue beyond Midnight EST under any circumstances...)
There's only one other pot of funds out there -- the Buyer's Premiums from the Auction House tasked to put on a functioning auction.

Someone is going to have to eat this, and it's very unfortunate.


_

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdnwLzrYe9c
 

B.S. It's been spotty for hours. If I win the couple I was leading I sure hope my servers are working when it's time to write my check.

And its over...

It just closed, and I won my item, so I guess I shouldn't complain about that last snipe. :)

I feel bad for REA but once they had to bounce the servers they never should have considered closing tonight.

Very disappointing with my item's ending price. Extremely disappointed in REA.

they have 2 nights a year to "get it right"... i can let you know it effected my bidding... my frustration caused me to shy away from items i was interested in purchasing leading up to this evening.

No doubt this had to be frustrating to the AH. Per their own rules, which they even referred to in their last post, it seems that once they determined the servers were not going to cooperate the best thing would have been to postpone the close until it could close properly. By dragging it out and nobody knowing when or if it was going to close buyers may have had to pay more and frustrated buyers who stopped trying to bid only hurt the consignors' end results.

Poorly played to try to squeeze it in just because it was supposed to end tonight.

Not a win for either side...

Bidders feel like they should have won at the announced time, given how difficult it was sign in and bid for the vast majority of the bidders leading up to that time this doesn’t seem really fair and things were cheaper than they would have been at that time (and they know that)

Consigners unhappy because how many people simply gave up out of sheer frustration (I pretty much did as a bidder) which theoretically results in a lower price.

No win, honestly not sure what a solution should have been.

In the past an auction house extended to the next day once they realized they were having server issues, which wasn’t popular but may have been the solution to make. One would need to make that call much earlier if they went that route.

Looking at the results there were some really high selling prices and a few bargains, just like every auction. Today was unfortunate, but I think Brian, Dean and the guys should be commended for assembling a great auction.

Rea
 

I consigned a very large signed card collection, and I’m obviously disappointed by the technical issues, but I know Brian did everything he could to resolve the situation fairly. Did I lose some bids because of the issues? Certainly, but the prices were very strong and if you’d told me going in what I would end up with I would have taken it in a second. I also won a nice Babe Ruth signed baseball at a great price, so I feel like I came out well as a buyer and a seller. I’m sure these issues will be resolved by the next auction and I’d recommend REA to anyone looking to sell.

Jason

I was fortunate enough to miss most of the technical issues...but only won one of my three items...but only because I held fast to my limit on the two I missed. The one I did win has been a white whale to me for awhile.

Bravo to Brian for putting on a good show. As much heck as we tend to lay on him, we should also appreciate the effort.


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Couldn't get in for the last hour or so except toward the last half hour...and then got locked out again until it was way over...really frustrating...ended up losing them all...including one item I really wanted due to last minute bid.....oh well... at least the Dodgers Lost. :p

Ricky Y

I could not be more upset with this auction and the way it went, it may be time for a hiatus.

Botched ending cost me a high dollar whale... and the consignor a lot of cash.

Won some cards that I couldn’t believe my bids held up. Not good for the consignor I guess. Actually I was hoping to get out bid on a few pieces.

which card

The 54 Mantle Stahl Meyer. My last bid was at 1137. My bid was high at midnight. Never got an outbid text. Would have gone several thousand higher. Had no idea auction was again extended. Oh well. Should I have used autobid- in retrospect yes...but I didnt know I was participating in a flawed system. Text alerts set up with HA. No worries, it happens.

Like most, I encountered some bidding issues, and like some, I lost out on a white whale. But I didn't lose the card because of the bidding issues. I lost because some schmo wanted it more than I did and put in a higher bid. I figure I had the better part of a month to put in a crazy high bid with a high probability of winning, but I didn't. It was my bad.

I know the technical issues suck, but personally, I think Brian and team made the right adjustments given the circumstances.

I rarely agree with a Wolverine, but I totally agree with you here Sam.

+1

I also agree Brian and his team did his best and wouldn't think twice to
consign again with him. It was a tough night for sure and Brian handled
it professionally.

I disagree with all of the "ample time to bid" arguments. I think a fraction of people put in high ceiling bids and wait to see them chipped away. Most of us bid in the OT, and often as late as we can stomach staying up. I know I watched a Wajo rppc I liked in the last auction go from about $5k to about $15k over the last 30-45 minutes before close this spring. Last night I couldnt get the site to load for almost all of the time between 815 pm CST and midnight CST when I gave up.

There may have been some strong prices but REA always brings lots of strong prices bc people send them great stuff and the fact that some stuff sold strong does not mean that everything played out as it would have if the system worked properly. If bidders could only get to the site for a fraction of the last 4-5 hours, there is no arguing that this snafu didn't cost REA a lot of bids because people got pissed and gave up, as people have admitted, or kept trying to bid but couldn't and eventually had to go to bed. Many aren't willing to keep calling in bids - and how are people supposed to know they have been out bid and need to call in another bid if they can't check the site to see the price? I am sure tons of bidders don't come here to talk about what is going on either. If you don't like that you got bid up you should be happy that things didn't work right because I think it is highly likely that it would have been worse had the site been working.

I feel for what Brian is going to have to go through this week, and I know Brian is a good guy, but last night was a disaster.

The auction was a disaster but I was able to put in bids on all the cards I wanted although with difficulty and maddening frustration. That being said I think many people gave up as the ending was not a frenzy. So if you wanted the cards you could get them -- as long as you were willing to stay up unti 1:30 am on the east coast on a Sunday night. Not many can and my ass is dragging today. In addition, the continued extended closing cost ceiling bidders some money.

REA is my favorite auction house and in my mind the epitome of honesty and professiamlsim in our hobby. But last night was a disaster and they will have a hard time convincing people to consign big ticket items now. Some good faith gesture should occur as many people are pissed. In addition it's time to upgrade their bandwidth as this can't happen again.

I thought it had ended when I couldnt get the pages up. Outbid on every single item anyhow, so they wont miss my revenue

The Perfect Storm
 

Once a problem like this occurs, bidders and consignors both ramp up their efforts to access the auction site to try to bid or follow their consignments. The timing of the problem at the peak activity of a normal auction was critical.

The irony is that thousands of folks continually trying to access the site because of the problem no doubt compounded the problem and made it worse and incapable of being resolved in a reasonable amount of real time as the countdown clock ticked away.

Pick your storm, but if a hurricane is large enough and strong enough, everybody gets blown away and wet. The service provider, the auction house, the bidders and the consignors all must pick up the pieces and move on.

https://bid.robertedwardauctions.com...e?itemid=51659

Whoah. That's a very strong price.

What?? Where is the humor in this post Frank ???

All 20+ items I was interested in when for prices well above what I thought was fair market value. Not saying I wouldn't be a little miffed if I was a consignor, but I didn't see anyone running away with any steals.

Peter, I was neither an REA bidder or consignor last night, so I just went to eBay and overpaid for a couple of items there. Is that better?

I was underbidder on (3) lots. I knew my bid was topped on two of the items but when I checked the other item I was on top until after the auction ended. So what does that mean? Mo money for another auction.

I look at the REA track record and I see an anomaly like this as unusual and can be addressed as "shit happens".

Life without an REA catalog during the year would be just miserable. Admit it, we're all like 6 year old children when that catalog arrives.

Aint that the truth. I'm going to guess that there may have been a little money left on the table but in the end it was another good night for REA consignors.