[benjulmag]

An auction that ends at a set time with no opportunity for a losing bidder to raise his/her bid by definition cannot achieve the highest price for the consignor. The reason I say "by definition" is because it is a human trait not to know how high we will bid until we are faced with the realization that we will not win the item unless we raise our bid. I can't tell you how many times I ended up placing a bid much higher than I originally intended when my "can't lose bid" had been topped.

I will add that not only is an auction that ends at a set time not in the best interest of the consignor, IMO it is not in the best interest of the bidder. I for one would like the satisfaction of knowing that if I am to end up losing the lot, it was at least via a bidding format that afforded me one last shot to top a bid or know I would not win it.