Chatted With Bill Goodwin Today

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by GregMitch34

Called about an invoice, no big deal, but since I had him on phone asked about any possible changes in auction ending rules, given the uproar in some quarters over the end of this week's auctions which came at, what, 6 a.m. in the East? He was very friendly and responsive and talked about pros and cons of various ideas. He said, yes, it has gotten much worse lately so he would like to make change, but to what?

Says he once tried ending the lots separately but it was a "disaster'--many complained. Ending all at a fixed time, say 1 a.m., also draws complaints because people like to jump to other lots if they lose one. And so on. He says though there appears to be little action in the middle of the night a lot of dough gets bid on higher end lots. He ended by asking me for ANY ideas, very open to hearing, so if you want to propose some below, please do. Of course, it's a problem with several auctions, not just his.

Bill Goodwin is running a business -- a business in which he needs to get the most money for his consignors or he loses them -- and loses his business. Why stop the auction when he's bringing in more money for his consignors (and him)? As noted above, it's the BIDDERS' faults who run the auction so late through the night, figuring that they'll hold out as long as possible to bid so that their competition will drop out. Don't blame the auction house for this. We have the right to complain about fraud, not the fact that the AH wants to make more money for its consignors.

PS I was up half the night bidding on one card; had I known the auction would run until 6:45 I would have set my alarm for 6:43; however, that's the chance you have to take if you want the card bad enough. I got the card.