BST "Auction" sub-section... thoughts and observations?
 

I've only been an active Net54'er for the last several years so my take is relatively short-term compared to many here... but I wonder how others see the Auction area of the BST lately?

I used to find some interesting items from time to time and auctioned an item or two myself. But I find the breadth of auction items to be a bit narrow lately and it seems to be less active than it once was.

Just wondering if there's a way to goose that section for the benefit of Net54 members, seller and buyers alike. Am curious to hear others thoughts on this... sorry if this isn't in the right section. Might be more "water-cooler" talk.

This is a fine place for the question. I am not sure of the solution but am willing to help, if there is anything the forum can do to help.

and a card bought from said BST a few years back...
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It seems that most of the auctions are for non-vintage or certainly non-prewar items. I wonder if someone selling a T206 does not post there because they are afraid they will get lost in the crowd. I wish there were more vintage. Perhaps I should post something :-)

Just list with a starting bid that is a bit low but not too low. That way there is no risk of losing your arse....

And as a reminder, if someone wants to do a live front page auction, just PM me. Those have done ok in the past but there are parameters...Anything listed there has to be started at a low price and needs to sell. My cobby there did just fine a few years? back.
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I enjoy the auction section, and have purchased several cards through it. I think that the section's main problem is it is too disorganized and random. Junk wax basketball, Christmas ornaments, vintage baseball cards, collector figurines, etc. are all blended together.

I think organizing it better would improve the section and experience. Making it easier to navigate would increase sale prices, and, in turn, increase offerings through it. I'm personally hesitant to list items on it, and think others are, as well.

I would recommend subfolders. I don't think it would even take that many folders. Have separate folders for: (1) pre-war baseball cards; (2) baseball cards from 1946 - 1980; (3) baseball cards from 1981 - present; (4) all basketball cards; (5) all football cards; (6) Miscellaneous cards; & (7) collector items and memorabilia.

Just a suggestion. Others might disagree and have better ideas. This is just my humble opinions.

This is a go0od take of one of the problems... it's hard to sift through the many items that are of no interest to me. Maybe sub-folders is the way to go

As someone with a little experience, I don't think this would move the goalpost. It is one click to look at all of the auction items and takes all of 1 minute, at most. More subsections would just make it more clicks. The other BST subsections seem to do fine...
That said, I am open to continue to discuss this and anything that can help.

More BST goodness. This one boomeranged from my first collection to the BST and back to me. :) at $275 it was a good buy...

https://luckeycards.com/pr321goudeyruth.jpg

I think the problems arise with the low sell prices. If someone starts anything with a low enough price to warrant action, they aren't properly rewarded with a decent bid. I know I have won stuff insanely cheap. I know I have sold stuff insanely cheap. There HAS to be an answer on how to spur on interest. I wish I knew what it was however.

one of my favorite bst/auction pickups.

I think this happens because anything listed can get lost in a sea of listings for items which do not sell. I just checked and 10 of the 12 most recent listings have no bids, including several which already ended that way.

Personally I'd love to see many more front page auctions- I enjoy following them even when I'm outbid.

Agreed. Has there been consideration of just allowing auction format sales in the individual B/S/T categories? This might be more easily navigated. Not a huge deal for me, but I've wondered if I were to list a specific card for sale in the B/S/T by auction format would it be moved to 'Live Auctions" and/or would I be admonished.

You wouldn't be admonished (I've probably known you 20ish years), and IF you were to PM me about it, there is a good chance I would let it go. If someone just takes the bull by the horns and doesn't include me, or another moderator (but mainly me), then it could, and probably would, be moved. Still no admonishment but probably a PM asking what you are doing?
If you guys want to do some live auctions in those sections then maybe we take away the regular live section, as what would be the use? Or we could leave it and still do the others. That all said, I am not convinced this is a better way yet, but something to consider, for sure.
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I personally think the formats of the auction is the biggest downside for using it for me, both buying and selling.

Item X ending in 7 days at 10pm CST
I have enough trouble tracking ebay and 27 auction houses and they send regular reminders/alerts.

I have noticed in other groups that the 24hr from last bid style auction seems to garner more interest and bids.

You list the item, start price, bid Increments and the bidding continues indefinitely until 24hrs have gone by without any bids.

Most auctions last fewer than 2 days and get more action from what I have seen. Can't get sniped so the seller doesn't have to worry about figuring out which bids counted or were 10 second late etc, and the buyers don't have to bid against themselves worried about getting sniped.

Also eliminates the clutter of bunches of running auctions with little or no interest from the top of the page for days.

Bumps with 12hrs, 4hrs and 1hr remaining (when it gets to that point) seem reasonable to me as well but others may think that is excessive.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

My personal observation:

The auction forum is dominated by two members. Currently, 11 of the top 14 listings (what fits on my screen) belong to one of those two. I seldom, if ever, see material I would bid on...from either of those two members. So, I rarely check out the auctions. Maybe once a month, I'll click over to that section. When I do, I have the "same old thing" reaction.

As for posting an item for sale there, I avoid it. I wouldn't want my listing to get lost in a sea of 1992 Topps, Donruss puzzles, and McDonald's glassware.

Sorry. Just my two cents.

I'm sending these to you just to cheer you up.
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LOL.

I'll throw in an opening bid on those...

Mayor McCheese has me wanting McDonald's cheeseburgers and fries, big time. Maybe a chocolate shake too.

BST Areas
 

I appreciate the discussion so far. Nothing is off limits in the way of helping. Maybe we do away with the generic section and put a sticky, under the scammer warnings LOL, for Live Auctions, in each category?
That way they would possibly get more traction and be more relevant. Who wouldn't look at one in the T206 section? But this place will never be anything like an AH or fleabay. It's a community section and only our members can see it (the BST areas)..

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The survey said, number 1 answer. That would certainly separate the trinkets and gee gaws and all the other stuff from the pre-war and the other baseball categories. Up to The Boss to make it happen.

I am not in favor of having more sections, as we already have the categories (unless I am missing something). If members want to do Live Auctions as stickies, in each of those 7-8 categories in the BST section currently, I have no problem trying that. That would keep them organized. The current Live section can probably be locked so we can go back if we need to?
Would doing those hinder regular thread sales?
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Sounds like a great idea, sir. As you say, you can go back if need be. I am small potatoes here, but I can't see how it would hinder regular sales.

Hi erick i find your comment on what my friend golden age 50s sells.Rude fred is in his 80s he does this to make a few dollars ,,maybe he doesnt have great stuff to post doesnt make him a bad person.ive bought stuff from him just to help.posting pics and making fun of him isn't what this forum is all about ,,go bully someone else ..
Id like to see what yoi have for sale im sure its mind boggling octavio

Nothing good is really going to get listed beyond once in a blue moon because of low visibility, it's dominated by 3-4 people unloading junk that is difficult to sell, there's no sections, it is difficult to track, a thread format makes bidding difficult (you big your high bid until clock ends, you can't do it eBay style to autobid up to X because its just a forum). Way too many cons for anyone to sell much beyond stuff that is difficult to unload at all.

+1 on that. Just look at my successful deals.

+1 agree

You can go back page after page and find easily half the listings on each page ended with zero bids. All those listing are why I don't check there as often as I used to. They are not auctions, they are overpriced buy it now listings in the auction section.

If we could just give those 2 wonderful gentlemen their own auction section it would be the best solution in my honest opinion.

[QUOTE=bnorth;2290837]If we could just give those 2 wonderful gentlemen their own auction section it would be the best solution in my honest ebns a good guy

They get bids and sell.:D

So do mine get glasses get your facts in order

I have to say, when I was building my E98 master set Octavio put one up on the auction thread that was relatively rare and I didn't have, thanks for that.

Octavio I am seriously not trying to put you or Fred down in the least. I honestly think if you 2 had your own section just for you 2 great gentlemen to list your stuff it would open up the auction section to others. My biggest complaint is that they are NOT auctions. They are BIN listings with starting prices higher than eBay BIN listings most of the time.

Hi casey im a nobody in this hobby ,,ive made a lot of good pals here and i post decent stuff .I have great stuff and normal stuff ,,i don't like trolls and bullies especially bullying a guy in his 80s who doesn't bother no one here ,,just tring to make a few dollars for the holidays.Hes got health issues and yes he sells odd stuff so what .Hes my friend and i like fred!!

Hi no one is telling you to buy or bid in anything ben no one ,,Do you actually think leon who i respect is going to give me and fred our own section,,cmon ben think before you talk omg lol

What do you think would fix the problem in the auction section?

net 54 auction
 

I agree, the same few guys always " auctioning " stuff, and at times go right on the edge of the " only 2 or 3" at one time rule.

also, most starting prices are. like someone said - ridiculously high /overpriced Ebay buy it now " prices

and often re-posting a comment in an auction , to say " hey last day of auction " ..so it jumps to the top ...and most time this item doesnt have a single bid on it

I think the auction page should be for - baseball card pre 1980...and only baseball cards..no pen knifes, no Disney stuff, no clothing apparel

Hi ben what problem lol

Possible solution:

I used to bid on Mike's auctions in the BST. I won a number of 1956 Topps lots from him.

Each of his weekly auction listings contained multiple lots. He didn't make a separate listing for 1952, another for 1953, a third listing for 1954, and so on.

If people consolidated all of their items into a single listing, the page would open up a bit. Perhaps others would feel comfortable enough to use the auction section.

There's a difference between bullying and being blunt.

I never wrote that anyone was a bad person. I haven't been threatening or vulgar. I haven't told you or Fred to stop what you're doing. I simply called it as I saw it. You and Fred have taken over the Auction Forum.

By and large, I'm not interested in the items you're offering at the starting bids you've posted. As a consequence, I don't frequent that segment of Net54.

No offense intended. No reason to get bent out of shape.

Nobody has taken over the auctions. It’s just that nobody else really auctions anything here, so the 2 people who do are most of the posts.

I would probably use it one or two times until my items sold for peanuts....then I would be like, why bother.....but I really want it to succeed.....I may list something there just to see what happens....and when it does poorly, I will just fade back into the woodworks.

Why do you think that is? This exact problem has been brought up many many times over the years.

Best answer given on this thread

+1

Wow. Great card.

I stated why I think that is in 23, why it’s just a couple people posting difficult to sell items to try and unload. Which I have no issue with, I have bought from both of them and enjoy cheap junk cards too.

Selling via auction here is not really viable. Thus it’s dominated by the couple people who do it. It’s not their fault there aren’t different sections to group items, they follow the rules and do nothing wrong because they are the only ones who use it.

I can see why some might criticize the other guys listings that are rather hyperbolic and might rub some wrong, but I can’t see a single thing Octavio has done anything even slightly worthy of critique by posting auctions in the auctions section while following its rules. He’s not taking it over by using it. It’s just that nobody else is. It’s not like the auction section was popping off without them.

I appreciate the response even though I believe it to be 100% wrong. This exact problem gets brought up fairly regularly. The last time was just before the last nationals. It is always the same. A few openly complain while many complain behind the scenes.

Maybe someone could set up an unanimous poll so they wouldn't have to worry about Octavio attacking them.

If it really wasn't a problem it wouldn't get brought up once or twice a year.

I actually tried to find this auction, I wouldn't mind adding these glasses.

But I think many would be reluctant to post high dollar items in this auction section fearing most would miss them. Perhaps a separate high end auction page, or an auction section with at least a minimum bid or value of say $250 or $500 would help.

Ben i take anything you say with a grain of salt your delusional your a troll that buys zero here and posts garbage .your a bully im not afraid of you.

Do you think Net54’s BST would be a viable auction place for popular vintage baseball items if not for those two gentleman using the space to sell low end items?

I would note to paragraph 2 that people complaining about something does not make it so. I have heard people whine about a great many things that, unlike this, are not difficult to prove opinions but are provably false. The presence of a complaint does not make it legitimate or illegitimate.

We can test it. I’m sure Octavio would pause his listings for someone to use it, and not the main board, to auction significantly valuable items so we can see if they go for market value or not and test the thesis. I doubt anyone will want to risk it without having pals lined up to ensure a certain outcome, for the other reasons in 23.

[QUOTE=rjackson44;2290915]Bens makes makes a good point

Man, relax. Stop the bullying.

Not sure what this argument is about but I believe I bought an 89 fleer Ripken from Ben once, can't remember if we made that deal or not. But I've definitely seen him post cards for sale.

You know what bill is right love ya ben ive bought cards from him ,,i mean its just cards i was just trying to defend my friend fred golden age 50s hes old just trying to make a few dollars ,,anyway im going to walk my doggies on the beach they dont care about cards lol..love everyone best octavio

I know I seldom check the Live Auction threads because of the clutter and the number of items that are of little or less interest to me.

I have used it as a seller on a few occasions, once many years ago for a card that fetched more than $600. I would consider selling some pre-war commons by the auction method if the current format was changed so that my listing wasn't drowned out by the many other items that likely turn off the collectors I hope to attract.

Lots of sellers say they want changes that there offended by the posts,But i have yet to see them post anything ,i mean zero ..just complain like the stuff they have is priceless .ok post and make the bst better ..im all for it ..i see a lot of complaining but no posts ..i buy a lot here and im cash ready ,..happy selling guys

The decline of the Live Auctions section was gradual and any potential improvement would be gradual too. It won't magically become REA overnight.

I suspect that there are quite a few active members of the board who likely don't check it frequently anymore because the material offered there is not of any interest to them. This was mentioned several times in this thread alone. I think we'd all agree, this is primarily a prewar forum.

I think it would be fantastic if there were subsections within Live Auctions itself, prewar, postwar, modern, etc. If all listings were required to start at $1 minimum bid, I think that would elicit more activity as well.

The market is down in all areas folks are not going to list cards at a dollar min so they can be had for nothing.no one wants to sell a $30 for $5 dollars it makes no sense.

I may be oversimplifying it here, but I would think a simple segmentation of the auction section would help auction seller and buyers alike… if I am interested in lower cost, newer items, I’ll head to that section. If I want to sell vintage, more expensive items, I’ll click there instead.

It’s the same principe in the buying/non auction sections - the board has an easy way for me to navigate to cards and products that interest me (50’s, T-206, 19th century, etc)

Imagine if all selling posts didn’t have the segmentation as it does? It would be impossibly difficult to navigate (and my guess is, most wouldn’t after 1-2 frustrating experiences).

Wouldn’t a similar model help the auction experience as well, for both seller and buyer?

I agree with this one. I have bought lots of items off the current auction section but almost all pre 1980. At the risk of getting slammed (and I will) one idea (since this is primarily a baseball forum), is to, at least divide the auction section into Modern, pre-1980 and Everything not Baseball. This might help without having so many auction sections.

I would love to see a $1 min starting bid. If you look at the completed listings the ones with a low starting bid get bids.

5 of the top 6 listings are yours and your 5 are live auctions.:confused:

So would a sticky for Live Auctions, in each category, help with what most are saying? I don't see the 1 Live Auction section being made into separate categories. It doesn't make sense to me, when we already have them. Great discussion and feedback, both positive and negative. FYI, the first live auction was for a 50k+, N167 I sold there....it sold to another board member.
And those members whom have been here for a long time, should remember the whole BST being 1 thread on the front page :)

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ben makes a good point

Too many items in the auction section aren't auctions at all. Some people list things with minimum bids that are equal or close to EBay BINs. Those should just be listed in the appropriate B/S/T forums, that would get rid of some of the clutter. Also, people seem to be using 1 day auctions to get around the 2-3 auction rule, their listings are still on the front page while they are listing new stuff forcing others to top their auctions to be seen at all.

I am just pointing out what I think is the problem. I have attacked no one.

It is against the rules to have 5 active listings like you had when I made the post.

You have tried to bully and attack anyone in this thread that you don't like their answer. YOU are the only bully in this thread and it is baffling that you are claiming to be bullied.

if you notice i have three new listings the other three say pass and closed MY APOLOGIES IF IT OFFENDED ANYONE ..I LIKE BEN HES A GOOD GUY AND WE MADE A FEW DEALS ,,ITS JUST CARDS ANYWAY A LOT OF GOOD POINTS HERE AND IM SURE LEON WILL DO WHAT HE HAS TO DO ..BEN HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY I PMED YOU BEST OCTAVIO

If jingram058 is small potatoes, then I am probably somewhere down in the amoeba end of the ecosystem. Having said that, and having read this thread, let me offer a couple of alternatives:

1. Change the rules for the Auction section, so that anything offered there must start at a $0.99 opening bid. I don't sell on eBay, but I have heard that a low opening bid often results in more activity and higher selling prices.
2. If someone wants to run an auction with an opening bid above $0.99 (a quasi-BIN as someone suggested above,) have that done in the relevant BST section.

dont think its bad idea

One idea would be to ask sellers not to bump their own auctions.

I expect that would result in auctions that have more action/interest remaining at the top of the page, being more visible to members, and auctions that start with a relatively high price falling to the bottom of the page.

Josh

With the "bump, TTT, lower price" the regular sections are defacto reverse auctions. Instead of trying to extract the highest price possible (nothing wrong with that) through a bidding war, why not just post the price wanted in the regular sections?

Always wanted to ask... what the heck does "TTT" stand for?

To The Top

ben lol

I post an auction every few weeks (about once a month or so). I mostly post Baseball but have thrown some Hockey and Football out there over the years. I was just about to post one today when I saw this and figured I would chime in.

Just my $.02 on what has worked for me-
- List for at least 5 days- not everyone looks everyday
- List for a low price - Mine always start between $5 and $20 and often complete for nearly 5x that amount
- Only bump on the last day to avoid bumping someone else's auctions and to make sure people know it is the final day
- Love the recent suggestion of posting end date and time in the titles

I know the guys that are mostly listing there and they are decent fellows, and some of their stuff interests me at times. However it could use a refresh and as much as I know Leon has mentioned not wanting too many sections I think a good fix would be to divide the section into three: High end auctions. Pre 1980 Baseball, and Everything Else.

10-4, thanks... another mystery solved! (now, if someone can just explain the origin of "Net54" as a forum title!

Hope this helps a little. The post above was from 2010, so it has been a while..

Aha... thanks!

Speaking of Net54 mysteries, one I haven't been able to solve is why people bump their BST threads to the top only to say "sold"...

I rarely go to the Auctions section because there's usually non-vintage items for sale. One way to gauge "what sells" in that section is to go through each page and look at the number of bids on the different items. What you'll see are not many posts with > 10 "Replies". If there are > 10 "Replies, then there's a few bids and if you look at the description you will notice that most of those items are vintage.

If you see < 4 "Replies", then it's usually just the original post and the poster letting everyone know it's up for bid and pushing the item back to the top of the list.

Also, look at the number of "Views". If I see a lot of "Views" and not many "Replies", then it's usually something I probably wouldn't want. However, one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Most of the items with a high number of "Replies" and "Views" are vintage and worth reviewing. But there aren't a lot of those.

I used to check this section out more frequently, but I rarely check it out now because of the number of non-vintage items.

Leon, I know you don't like the idea of adding more pages/listings, but could there be only two sections: VINTAGE and Not So Vintage? Set a rule that VINTAGE must be 50+ years old. The only sad part about that is there could be some interesting stuff missed because it's not 50 years old, but that would be the exception rather than the rule (IMHO).

auction
 

I just hear all this " bullying " stuff...I dont see any bully ..just opinions and comments on subject