Posted By:
Jeff LichtmanRob's explanation makes sense. However, a) it is unfair to the East Coast guys; and b) couldn't you just have a drop dead time of, say, 1 am? And that's it? An example of the insanity that REA's format can cause can be found in one item I was bidding on. By 4 pm yesterday, weeks after the auction started, there were just 5 bids on the item with a top number of $1400. During the extended part of the bidding process, from 4 pm until 3 am, there were an additional 20 bids and the item closed at $6000. This format does not cause large bids early on. Instead, the few guys that wanted the item bid very early and then waited until the last possible moment to put in bids.