[Jobu]

Extending credit is an interesting idea for AHs that want to risk the headache, though I think that credit should come with an immediate 50-70% downpayment that is forfeited if the balance is not paid. If the buyer doesn't come through then the AH then owns the item and can sell it in the next auction, or offer it to an underbidder, with the downpayment as a cushion against future price uncertainty (and a penalty for the person who doesn't pay his debts).

As for closing times, are there any auctions that enter extended bidding on Sundays around, say, 8 PM Eastern? Sunday evenings are the peak Ebay time because that seems to be when people have the least going on in their lives. If you entered extended bidding at 8:00 EST, closed lots individually, and ran 30 minute intervals for the first hour (8:00-9:00), 15 minute intervals for the second hour (9:00-10:00), and 5 minute intervals from 10:00 PM Eastern/7:00 PM Pacific until every lot ended I think the vast majority of the lots in the auction would be over by 1:00 AM EST/10:00 PM PST, no? Sure, some people on the West Coast would have to miss dinner on Sunday night but it is a lot easier to skip dinner on the West Coast to bid than it is to skip sleeping on Sunday night to bid on the East Coast.

Edited to add: I have little experience with AHs so I apologize if that second paragraph was stupid.