[Snapolit1]

It's the endless debate and will go and on and on. I think 90% of us agree that auctions closing at 4 or 5 am suck (at least for us east coasters). A number of auction houses have been fine tuning in recent years and trying different things and I commend them for it.

The live Hunts style auction to me is easily the best. I watched their last auction and it was a lot of fun and I jumped in and bought 3 lots I otherwise would have passed on simply because they were under priced. I couldn't do that at 4 am because I would be fast asleep. And the rare item that was must have material I snagged, and didn't lose out to snipers.

I've noticed in recent auctions a meaningful percentage of lots that never attract a single bid. Won't name any particular AH. I would suspect in a live auction format everyone of them or very close to it would sell.

Auctions that close in the middle of the night leave a lot of my and presumably others' money on the table. Can't imagine how their consignors are cool with that.