REA and other auctions, ridiculous delays

[AMBST95]

I'd rather they open extended bidding at midnight and then close it the next afternoon rather than the other way around. There are enough people bidding in these auctions and enough lots for the 15 min rule to carry it through the night and then close it down when the whole country is awake.

[sb1]

Originally Posted by AMBST95

I'd rather they open extended bidding at midnight and then close it the next afternoon rather than the other way around. There are enough people bidding in these auctions and enough lots for the 15 min rule to carry it through the night and then close it down when the whole country is awake.

I would be willing to bet that if this were tried, the auction would end at 2-4 am the next night, rather than in the afternoon.

[bobbyw8469]

As bad as Hunt Auctions website is to navigate, THEY GET IT! Run each lot on an individual basis. It forces people to bid or get off the pot, rather than allow one coast to stay awake longer than the other coast. You might as well call it "West Coast style auction", because it defintiely favors the west coast.

[base_ball]

Free shipping makes it all better...

[wonkaticket]

Gotta give some credit to REA while I’m not a huge fan of the 4am shuffle either.

REA managed to close down an 1800+ lot, $ 10MM+ dollar auction within a few hours of most competitors 100-200 lot auctions. Hell the last SCP went until 6am and had a fraction of what REA had…..

That’s pretty impressive.

[oldjudge]

I hate the format but love the auction. If someone is put off by the format they always have the option of not bidding. I have chosen to put up with it.

[Runscott]

Before Saturday-Sunday, I had never stayed up for an auction like this. As Brian can attest, I threatened to call it quits 4-5 hours before I actually gave up. But it was too much fun chatting with friends, and it was really amazing to see the bidder behavior as the auction wound down. As serious bidders got beaten on big lots by snipers, they seemed to be scrambling to find somewhere else to spend their money. In this formerly once-a-year event, everyone was ready with loads of marker bids. It set off a huge chain reaction.

As Jeff mentioned, we got the 'fair warning' email around 3:15, but bidder behavior didn't change much. You would think that all those very late bids for high-dollar items like the BN Ruth and the Gehrig/Ruth signed ball would have been placed a bit earlier, I mean - if you are serious about spending over $200K, why take a chance on REA ending the auction abruptly? I wasn't a player after 3:00, except for someone taking my beat-to-shit 1914 CJ Matty lot, but it was still immensely fun. I have no complaints.

I would say the Sockalexis pin and the Wagner signed balls probably amused me the most, but the guys fighting over the Philadelphia Athletics memorabilia also provided some entertainment.

[AMBST95]

Originally Posted by sb1

I would be willing to bet that if this were tried, the auction would end at 2-4 am the next night, rather than in the afternoon.

I'm just saying that if you're going to pick a random time to end an ongoing auction, do it while everyone is awake. What's the harm in letting extended bidding run a few more hours if bids still keep coming in? This way your bidders don't feel like they get taken advantage of based on where they live and your consigners get the extra bidding time to realize a higher profit. By just adjusting the time of the start of extended bidding you would be able to accomplish this. Start it at like 8am EST so the East Coast can get the ball rolling and end it around midnight if bids still are coming in and the whole country is reasonably awake still. No different than the current set up except now you lose bidders due to exhaustion.

[mybuddyinc]

In order to Snipe, you must be a Snark:


"Its habit of getting up late you'll agree
That it carries too far, when I say
That it frequently breakfasts at five-o'clock tea,
And dines on the following day."



Pretty sure I quoted this in the 2012 REA thread, I don't bring much to the table.