What's up with Mears???
 

Can anyone else get in to bid? SO irritating... and always happens at most critical pont in time :mad:

I bid and won a few items, then they reopened the auction, 15 minutes after the lots closed--a little upsetting

Same issues.

Dave - they kind of had to, as people could not get in to bid. Even with the re-opening, I spent the last 15 minutes failing to get opening bids in and now wonder if I'll be able to bid on items that I already have bids on.

I'll be glad in the morning, as I'm saving a lot of money. Consignors, on the other hand...

Did they just close down the auction or did the site crash?

Site crashed - I was on the phone with Troy and it was definitely stuck.

I'm interested in seeing how they handle this. One side will be fighting for the items will be auctioned off again while the other will want it to be how it is.

Yeah, I just spoke with Troy again. The site (according to what I can tell) went down at 7:50 Central, the 15-minute rule still began at 8:00, ended at 8:15...then the site came back up. So basically, no bidding during the 15-minute rule. You really can't end an auction without having the 15-minute period, so there isn't any argument from auction winners that will hold up.

We'll probably get an email in a minute, announcing the re-opening for the 15-minute period.

I managed to place a bid during the 15 minute rule.

Then it makes even less sense - that means that the 15-minute rule didn't actually work. When I checked the auction when I finally got in at 8:17, it was closed.

reopened - 46:18 left

Mears
 

We are aware that there is an issue and we have not yet been able to isolate the problem yet. We are working to resolve it as quickly as possible and in. The meantime Troy has extended the closing to begin at 11:00pm (Central). I apologize for the issue and I will update this post as we figure out what is wrong. Thanks for your understanding.

Bob Freedman
CEO, SimpleAuctionSite

Update, we have reset the application pool (a soft reboot) and it seems to have resolved the issue

I placed several bids during the 15 minutes---I had no trouble with the site at all the entire night

Mears
 

This may be because we have over 20 servers that support all of our customers, you may have been on a server that had no issues while others were not.

Nope, whenever I click a subcategory it still crashes.

Same for me, but I can go in through direct 'outbid' links, or by scrolling through the entire auction.

Mears
 

That is now fixed, thanks

Thanks, everything seems to be working properly now.

I didn't realize there was a problem, I put a bid in last saturday and it held up, I guess I have to wait for the invoice to be sure I actually won.

Happening again, I wonder what the problem is as it seems to be a recurring issue.

Me too
 

And it's not only slow, I'm getting stuff like this:

My max bid $10
Current bid $0
Number of bids 7

Sorry, you have been outbid on this lot.

This, along with "other" things, gets reaaal old...quick...

I'm getting somewhat of the same problem as you. My max bid says it is his higher than the current bid but it says I'm outbid haha.

I thought it was supposed to initially close 10pm central time now? Looking at it right now, the time will expire at 11pm central time. Haha, sheeesh...

Yeah I just noticed that too, seems like the site is starting to function properly now though so it just gives others a chance to bid.

I had my bid in before it crashed.It's not accurately reflecting the right bids or amount.When I went to "My account" it kinda reflects I'm the high bidder...? Really confusing and frustrating.

I have bids on 5 items, but it's currently too slow to deal with. That could be partially my internet connection, as I use Comcast.

Finally got a 6th bid in, but now it's really hell. Other than extremely slow page-loading, getting signed in and staying in is very difficult - entering password multiple times and being returned to the same screen, then having to login again when I hit the 'bidding' button.

I get emails when I am outbid, but can't even check my status on the Mears site. Hopefully there aren't too many consigners getting screwed because bidders like me have finally had enough.

Try using your phone if you can

nevermind. Contradicted myself in the same sentence.

Have a nice evening Mike.

You as well Scott :)

I'm giving up....it's getting late and I don't have the time or patience for it anymore.

The lot I'm bidding on isn't updating at all. So I have no clue still what the current price is, or if my bid made it and I'm the high bidder(?) or what.

I wasn't alone? Imagine that :confused: Maybe Mike will call bids in for us.

Scott, I meant using data on a phone rather than actually calling, it worked for me for some reason.

Thanks Mike - I thought I had rubbed you wrong and not realized it. I do that quite often :)

Quite frankly, I'm worn out. I think a lot of people bid when they are bored and it is easy to do so, whereas they would skip the auction altogether if it has a lot of issues. This one is like that for me. If I could get my page up showing the status of each lot, I would almost certainly throw bids in every now and then.

Example: I checked out H&S a couple of weeks ago on closing night, purely because I happened to be on my computer and ran across the link a few hours before it closed. I ended up sending them a check for over $4,000. If their software had the problems that Mears is having tonight, I wouldn't have won anything. That could be read as me being stupid, or it could be read as H&S successfully inducing bidding through making it easy - similar to the McDonald's lady asking me if I want a hot apple pie that I didn't realize I wanted.

Mears - I might have eaten a hot apple pie tonight.

Issues
 

We have determined that there was a denial of service attack against MEARS's web site. We do not yet know who currently were responsible but we will find out sometime tomorrow. We have since shut down those IP addresses that were causing the outages and things seem to be running smoother. If you are a legitimate bidder and cannot get in, please let me know by emailing me at bob@simpleauctionsite.com and give me your name and email address and I will reinstate your IP address. I apologize for the issues you may have incurred.

Bob Freedman bob@simpleauctionsite.com
CEO Simple Auction Site
919-824-9501

No problem haha, I'm 20 years old, phoning in a bid did not even cross my mind ;)

Phoning in bids is actually fun. I miss the short personal interaction with guys like Barry Sloate and Lew Lipset. I'm sorry that you never got a chance to experience that...and the amazing esoteric items that helped many of us expand our interests to things other than cards.

I did call and talk with Troy during the Mears auction referenced at the beginning of this thread. He was very helpful and working hard to get things back to normal. This time I wasn't up for that.

I'm assuming it was more reliable but a lot more hectic than online bidding :)

The first online auctions I participated in were via email. Get email updates in your inbox and email in your bids.

Damned North Koreans...or just someone retaliating for the dozens of emails from MEARS every auction cycle?

.. At any rate, I tried to get in twice last night but completely gave up. If there was something I had to have I would have tried more. But since I couldn't get in and didn't look previously I didn't know anything, pure ignorance as usual :).

I also tried to get in last night because I wanted to bid on 3 items in particular. All 3 went for below I was willing to spend, one I thought real cheap. Anyway was having trouble even pulling up the auction because it was running way too slow so I gave up also.

I'm still wondering if I won...? I tried calling but they are closed..any guesses? It's like my bid went through..but doesn't reflected it? Am I reading this right?

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ps0e768753.jpg

http://sports.mearsonlineauctions.co...-LOT84894.aspx

I was happy to see that final bids on all 6 items I was involved in, were higher than I planned to go. So no big deal I suppose.

I was interested in the Mantle 1951-60 index bat, but surprised they didn't mention that the weight was significantly higher than anything he ever ordered during the years when he ordered that model, and that it was an inch short. Shouldn't that be in the description? Maybe I'm wrong on this :confused: Bat experts?

I tried for 2 hours to get in and just gave up. This is two auctions in a row that I participated with Mears that had severe issues

I got lucky, I was sitting at work last night. After an hour or so of frustration, the system seemed to start working well for me about 11 pm. I must say, everybody must have given up, because I had bid on 10 lower-priced items and didn't get outbid on a single one.

Congrats - anything interesting?

I liked the prices of a lot of the game-used baseballs, but wasn't confident enough in the provenance. I was hoping the Joe Jackson decal bat and the KC Maris baseball would slip through the cracks, but no luck.

For $43, I thought this ball pitched by Bunning was pretty cool (I know, grain of salt.) Considering he lost to Bob Gibson in this game, I'll take it.
http://sports.mearsonlineauctions.co...entoryid=84667

But I'm most excited about the 1947 Bob Feller signed ball. I know, it's Bob Feller. And many of the purists will again post that it's personalized and on a side panel, but come on, this ball dates to the meat of his career!
http://sports.mearsonlineauctions.co...entoryid=84696

In my opinion, both were great purchases - if you want a Feller autograph, I don't think this one can be beat.

I was super frustrated as well. Tried one last time right around 11:00 PM and got a bid in. Things seemed to go smooth after that. Missed out on a Jordy Mercer game worn jersey from 2013 but got an umpire signed ball of Rosy Ryan and Frank Tabbachi. Ryan was a key player on the four straight NY Giants pennant winners from 1921-1924. Got it at a very nice price as well. Not many Rosy Ryan signed balls out there gotta figure.

Tom C

Ken & Tom,
You both did very well on your vintage signed ball purchases. Congrats!

After a very frustrating Saturday night and not knowing if I won anything, I received my invoice today for the 6-12-1920 Yankees game used baseball. I'm a T206 memorabilia collector. Yankees pitcher was Jack Quinn. Tris Speaker also played in this game. Other notables include Ray Chapman (who went 2-2 and would be dead 2 months later), Duffy Lewis, and a fellow by the name of Babe Ruth.

Lot #368 disappeared (Maris-signed baseball).

Suprisingly, or maybe not, Mears has had other lots "vanish" after the conclusion of the auction.:rolleyes:

This one was a genuine 1958 Maris signature with Harry Simpson on the other side. A very nice ball, but when I last noticed, it was only a little over $1,000 - several thousand short of what it should have gone for. I would not be surprised if the consignor demanded that it be pulled. With that many problems and so much money to be lost, I would not have blamed him.

North Korea is after my friend Troy
 

Wait, hold on a second here
Is it just me or did everyone just skate over this
Bob Freeman of simple auctions who runs their site called it a "denial of service attack"
What the heck is that
Sounds ominous
Were the north Koreans involved
Did they hire the Chinese
Is it collateral damage from the Sony attack
this is what you get for pissing off Kim Jon Un (sp?)
Josh

It's happened in his last two auctions...a Denial of Service attack is something that happens on purpose. It's someone out there unhappy with MEARS or someone trying to hurt the competition.

A DNS attack could be aimed at virtually anything. It could be the hosting company, it could be the auctioneer or anything else. That doesn't concern near as much as vanishing lots. I would be unhappy if I won something and the lot vanished from the auction. Forget the DNS attack, not anyone's fault that had to do with the auction. To me, the lots disappearing is something that should be answered for. If it were my auction I would make it more transparent than it seemingly is. BTW, I like MEARS and I like Troy. Nothing bad to say about the auction other than the question of the lot(s) not being there.

Ok didn't really want to come back and post anymore here. But I think I have the answers for you guys.

I'm pretty sure the lots disappear when they don't meet reserve.


Also a index bat is a bat ordered by the teams. Most of the time they will be different in terms of length and weight compared to what the player was ordering.

Thanks, Brock.

There was no reserve mentioned in the Maris ball lot. It was still in my bid list when I logged off around midnight Eastern the night of the auction, although I wasn't anywhere near high bidder. The next day it was gone. I agree that there should be an explanation, but I suspect that they simply pulled it when the problems were occurring. I would also guess that a number of other items disappeared as well, but I am not inclined to check.

One other thing to say about the auction: sometimes the little things are indications of something bigger. This auction was riddled with typos, indicating to me that they just weren't giving this auction much attention. Perhaps they lost a key employee, I don't know, but all of these mistakes will lead people to speculate.

I wonder how "ticked off" the high bidder is??

It's happened on the final day of bidding with his last two auctions now. I don't think that's a coincidence.

If an item doesn't hit its "hidden reserve" then I'd prefer for it to at least stay online for recording purposes. Doesn't look right when a "lot" just disappears.

Plus, hidden reserves are silly. Just start the dang thing at the reserve price if the consignor is making you have one at all.

I'm still looking for advice or help please.
I tried calling MEARS and left a message and no one has reply back. Every time I call it goes to voicemail.I'm not sure if I'm reading this wrong or what? I place a bid for $75, after being outbid. Auction said it ended at $68, but I didn't get an invoice and the auction doesn't reflect I won, even though..I believe I'm the high bidder. The auction still reflect it ended at $68 with BP at $83 This is a screen shot of my account from MEARS

Here's the auction: http://sports.mearsonlineauctions.co...-LOT84894.aspx


It's kinda change from the last time I posted....

Before:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ps0e768753.jpg


Now:
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...psb800587d.jpg

The software is owned by Bob, who has been frequently posting items lately. So I'm sure he's reading the forum and if you PM him, he would clear this up for you.

Thanks Scott!

Josh - you shouldn't have mentioned North Korea or the Chinese. Just tried to visit Lelands.com, and repeatedly received this message: 502 - Web server received an invalid response while acting as a gateway or proxy server.

Thanks guys for the help.

Conclusion: I won, but didn't win.:):( They gave the invoice to the other bidder even though I won. However, they were prompt in calling me and discussing the unique situation and we were able to resolve the problem.

Auction ends tonight, if there is an issue for a third straight I might not participate in their auctions again

I was bidding on a 1973 Reds signed bat that just vanished. No explanation.

I believe that is the result of a hidden reserve.

Happy to say there were no problems bidding for me last night.

I logged in and placed a bid but couldn't get back in to place another.

I really do not like that. As I pointed out earlier in the thread, I would prefer when a "lot" doesn't meet its price, it's still on the auction page for future reference.

I decided not to partake in this auction, so maybe it was different this month, but the things they do is very frustrating.

I was surprised that an edd roush bat with inch marks was called pro model .
http://sports.mearsonlineauctions.co...-LOT85813.aspx
Anyone have thoughts on that?
Matt

That link doesn't show it so maybe it was deleted?

I bought a bat a few yrs back of a HOF'er from them that I think was graded a 8. Consigned it to Goldin the following year and Taube PSA'd it as a pro stock. Luckily I got my money back from the Goldin listing, but that doesnt mean I was happy about it.

Troy emailed me, they voided the sale .

Mears and psa seem to have different opinions often .. At least you didn't lose money , but that's a shame cause I'm sure you were expecting it to do better

MJ supposed 1998 mears photomatch
 

who is Mears trying to kid with this supposed photomatch of MJ 97-98 Finals "non" worn jersey???..supported imagery analysis NOT even close.. a few areas ,, BIG deal.. doesn't mean jack
Mike Louie

some poor dude already bidding on it ,,ugh

I was curious when i heard the term "imagery analysis". I dont collect jerseys but I've always seen the term "photo matched".