Posted By:
barrysloateOkay- I have the problem solved, and here goes:
Both Mastro and REA have flawed closing systems. Bidders in Mastro can't go back to lots that have closed, and REA's system is interminable. You wait hour after hour for it to close, you've been high bidder for half the day, you don't know if it's safe to go to bed, it's just a disaster. So this is it:
At a reasonable hour, say 11:00 PM Eastern time, a message goes on the home page "this auction closes in 90 minutes, no exceptions." There can be periodic reminders or a descending clock. The point is there is no sense of urgency in an auction that goes to 3:15 AM. You can be high bidder for eight hours, go to bed at 3:00 AM, and lose the lot at 3:05. Sure, a few bidders will complain they couldn't get their bids in at the end, but every auction and every format has the same complaint. I believe REA could have closed at midnight Eastern time and gotten the same realizations if people knew they had a deadline to bid. Without a deadline, it just drags forever.
Ebay has a finite clock, live auctions have a hammer...and catalog auctions seem to never end. That's the solution.