[Peter_Spaeth]

I have no personal knowledge or experience, but I doubt auction houses gain much by running things until the crack of dawn. If there were a fixed earlier closing time, I think the same bids that came in late would have come in earlier. And maybe more from people who don't want to either stay up late or place a max bid. It seems to me late-running auctions are a holdover from the telephone days where maybe it made more sense because it was hard to get through on the final night.