PWCC t206 set break auction frustration (AITA???)
 

Is anyone else frustrated with the logistics surrounding this auction? At this point, I’m very concerned that due to PWCCs poor planning and lack of robust process, that I’m going to miss some cards that I really need for my set. I also get the sense that I’m not the only one. Here’s a list of the issues I’m having and the overarching issues with the auction:

1) sticking these cards in the premier listing which requires fine tooth comb of your bank account
2) lack of foresight that there would be a rush of people applying to premier
3) lack of auction advertising
4) lack of clarity/follow up to customer service inquiries (I have tried all available routes and have been told more or less keep waiting)
5) lack of fifo system for premier applicants (I applied for premier the day the auction opened and haven’t been given any follow up, meanwhile two other people who applied after me are past me in the process)

That’s a good starter, really flustered with pwcc, not that it’s any different than before. Here’s some pics of my interaction with pwcc customer service today after sending an email in the morning.

-Paul C

Paul, I know your frustration because dealing with their answers (or lack of) from past questions of mine, is bewildering. They seem to want to offer as little info as possible. I'm not sending them bank statements to bid in their auction, as much as I want to place bids on the T206 set break. Checking references: fine

The company also does not have a phone # to call either. Great customer service.

This is part of an email they just sent me today:

"If you are applying to participate in our special T-206 auctions please reply letting us know that specifically". Maybe they are lightening up a bit after all the complaints they've received lately. The new operators have a mess to clean up.

this is what happens when one participates in the auction of a shady enterprise.

I didn’t even get that sent to me. What day did you try to register?

How much of this is due to their change in leadership over the weekend?

Steve

The best part of the text thread -

"I'll have our trust team get back to you"

"What does that mean??? Trust team??"

and no, you are NTA - this sounds like a headache!

Will people ever learn? I guess not. Anything for a card on the want list, I guess.

Not the asshole.

But providing your bank account details to an infamous fraud ring and expecting quality service is a decision I will never understand. Some inconvenience is a pretty good outcome considering.

Sorry. Too late to have any trust in this company even after the change.

How many red flags does one need to see to realize the dealings of a very untrustworthy company? Is one card truly worth the hassle?

Go deep, I’m passing.

Butch Turner

+1
Only two cards I want to bid on and the "registration" process is taking way too long smh

I tried to register (by submitting 3 references), the day it opened, which I think was Thursday 7/20. I received the email from them on Sunday at 3:23 PM

Us collectors should ban together and form our own Trust team to challenge their Trust team to a no holds barred Pickleball tournament at a neutral location to resolve any registration issues.

As a reminder folks - these are T206 cards that we are talking about, and they will show up soon enough, and in the condition you are seeking, even most of the ones with tougher backs.

The longer that you collect, the more likely it is that you will at some point realize that collecting is just one extended test of your ability to be patient.


Brian (my collecting patience is wearing thick)

I believe this is a left over effect of the prior regime. New Ownership just took over and would not have had time to make any changes of meaning to their process. They would let business go as usual until they got in and started their work.

Hopefully it all works out for you.

If it means anything the Net54 Team Trusts you:):):)

I would provide my bank details for a mortgage application, not to a website operation. Let alone one that is a possible 6 months from boarding up the windows. That is a huge no on bidding in their items in the future or likely ever.

Thanks for the insight, I know now I am on the right track.

Pretty much every auction house does some due diligence on their customers to make sure that they can pay, and don't just have some jokers running around and bidding obscene amounts that they'll never be able to actually pay. eBay being the exception, of course.

Obviously for most shops, it's merely a matter of getting references.

I think with PWCC and their premier auctions, they usually target a price point well into 5 figures, and often even into 6 or 7 figures. So they want some additional confidence in a bidder's ability to honor that bid. Obviously there are more (and less) invasive methods of getting there.

Not sure why the T206 auction is on their premier platform, but maybe they didn't have another box where it fit nicely, so this was sort of the closest thing they could come up with. Obviously for the seller, it's a problem if a large number of potential bidders are frozen out. But I suppose most around here would suggest that's what they get for working with this AH to begin with.

It means there are good reasons not to trust them.

I know you want the cards, but I would avoid dealing with them.

Unless something changed recently, the minimum commission charge for any lot in the Premier auction was $2,000. So, definitely does not make any sense why the T206 selection is in the Premier. Maybe they waived that minimum fee for a consignor in this scenario? But, would have made much more sense to list them in their weekly auctions to allow more bidders access to bid.

Just received this email only 5 minutes ago from PWCC:

Thank you for your interest in participating in our T206 Premier Auction. We need additional information to approve you to bid. Please provide the information below, so we can verify you:

Time-stamped screenshots of your bank, portfolio, or credit card statements, including your full name, showing that you have the means to follow through with a purchase in our Premier Auction. Please redact private information before sending the statement to us.

This process approves you for our Premier Auction only. You should already be able to bid in our regular Weekly Auctions.

Areyanna Gardiner
PWCC Marketplace

So, they are still going to treat this as a Premier auction- which is foolish. I haven't responded to them yet but I will tell them 'no thanks'. You need my bank or credit card info to bid on a couple of cards which probably won't exceed $650 total? I just won 2 cards from them in their weekly auction ending 7/16- (which haven't even been shipped yet), and they can't see the hypocrisy in their request? It's simple: Call REA, my #1 reference, and ask them about my buying history. Done. If I'm the consigner of this set, I am not happy. They've just limited their buying pool by a large amount.

To each his/her own on what personal information they willing to submit - which will be on electronic file forever for any and everyone to steal at some point.

With that said - I would NEVER - NEVER provide such information to anyone for the opportunity to bid on their items! One is not buying a house, or isn't being ordered to provide such from a judge.

If no one bids on their items, I'm sure those in-house requirements would change quickly or they would be out of business - I forgot for a moment - they already sold out!

The question one must ask themselves is: Do I really need to go through all this to give them the privilege of having my business?

This isn't Christies or Julian's auction house we are talking about here. This is a company that was banned - banned - from ebay! Damn, how much worse can it get?

obviously they seem to have had/have a big issue with winners who don't pay?

You could certainly interpret this policy in this fashion. Although I'm not sure that's necessarily the case.

In the crypto world, they use somewhat descriptive terminology to separate the big players from the smaller players - whales and minnows. Given the price points targeted in the premier auctions, I think the AH is really just trying to keep minnows from bidding in auctions where they haven't demonstrated an ability to pay. So maybe more of a preemptive strike to prevent someone who can't actually pay from even bidding at all.

And it's certainly possible that the inspiration for requiring these bona fides springs from non-payment problems that the AH experienced in non-premier auctions, perhaps even going back to their eBay days.

My own experience is that from time to time, items that I have consigned through brokers on eBay have suffered from non-paying bidders. In one situation in July 2020, the buyer who chose not to pay $8k to buy a piece that buyer had won (and I consigned) ended up helping me, because a month later it sold for $11k. And that buyer paid.

Please understand I am not agreeing with them. I am not a fan of PWCC and I am hoping that new owners changes that.
I do not know what their requirements are but I do know for me to bid in Hunt Auction Recently as a premier bidder(or whatever it was called) and in Goldin at a certain limit those types of items were requested for me to be able to bid.

And Hunt did not distinguish between price points to be approved but for the specific type of auction

So what they are asking for is not uncommon in the business.

The current process for the premier is BS! I have bid regularly in PWCC auctions and have a history with them. I never had an issue paying for my cards so to me it makes no sense to now require my bank info and references to bid in this auction. It would make sense if I only purchased cards in the hundreds of dollars and now want to purchase tens of thousands of dollars of cards but some of these T206s will not crack $1,000 mark. If PWCC has a concern then they could cap you bids at $2,500 total, $5,000 total unless you present more financial info. The total on the two cards I saw will probably be between $500 to $1,250 base on recent sales. I agree the consignor is getting screwed by limiting the bidders unless that is what they specifically requested on consignment. Just my two cents...

Anyone bidding in the T206 set break, ending tonight? The Extended Bidding was to start at 10:00 EST. The clock is malfunctioning and keep re setting at 4 minutes & change.

The bids are constantly rolling in but this auction is now off the clock in terms of a normal extension time. This will probably continue for awhile past midnight,and there is nobody answering questions in the chat.

Typical PWCC, I set my bids and am off to sleep. Will wake up to see what I did or didnt win.

Their premier auction closes all at once. 5 minute resetting clock for the first 30 minutes, 2 minute resetting clock for the next 30 minutes and then 1 minute thereafter. No lot by lot. I totally forgot that was how they did it and figured this would be done after an hour of extended bidding. Nope.....

We have a T206 near set break (470+, all 4 Cobbs, Demmitt, O'Hara, tons more big cards) coming up in October. You will be welcome to bid without any invasive financial information required. :D

i also messed up how they closed, left a lot of cards unbid. oops

Did you add anything last night Troy? Some 6's went pretty cheap. HOF's too.
Also- congrats on your PSA 2 520!

Sorry to bump...
I tried to register for the PREMIER auction last weekend, still pending it says.
(disclosure:)--only bidding b/c a item a Net54 member consigned interested me.
The site says up to 2 days...well its been a week now....nothing but chirps...so i sent a email, thus i have not sent any info as posted aboved (bank statemt, credit card info or etc.)
Too much hassle to just bid...as others mention to move on theres othere better places +1

Whoo- finally got a response

In the meantime, i placed other bids, and got this response today:

Still have not been approved or heard from this “Trust team”

Alright, a alternative to this financial statement or bank/wealth records

Received this today:

Aita?
 

Yes.

we can also accept a copy of a recently-paid order of Premier Auction value from another reputable auction house.
How much is premier auction value ?

PWCC is a mess and they screw things up a lot, but I am so grateful I'm not a customer service rep who has to deal with baseball card collectors.

Based on the post I replied to my experience
(Same email I got above)
If you plan to bid say 20k
Then you need to submit invoices above that level
It went pretty easy as I got approved for Premier
Don’t necessarily need that amount but some go far
Higher and some things go under 10k
It’s all what you want and how much
Better allow a week and back n forth emails
Not some last day as their sites says they do

I wonder if it was the "Trust Team" that cancelled my account for non-payment less than 12 hours after their auction ended on Sunday?

Or just anyone that has to deal with customers, period.
I own a retail store (not card collecting-related) and the number of people that yell and throw fits has increased exponentially since 2020.