Auctions End Too Late

[the-illini]

Originally Posted by Leon

There is no definitive answer to this debate but my auction partner and I firmly believe there are more bids when folks know the end is in sight. Why not keep people interested the whole time? The days of all night auctions should come to an end, imo. And as a consignor I want everyone awake and bidding. Personally, I fell asleep, woke up and started bidding again around 130am this morning......that is crazy imo. If and when I sell my collection I will favor an auction house (if not my own) that will end lots individually. I want everyone awake and alert..... Just my opinion and I am not trying to disparage any auction house. I still bid in all of them but I end up bidding more when I stay awake and alert and "in the game".....rather than falling asleep before it ends.

Amen. Ending the lots individually is the way to go IMO.

[bcbgcbrcb]

Another vote for lots ending individually here. Maybe if enough of us speak up, more of the auction houses will go this route. At this point, it's still under 50% of the major auction houses.

[benchod]

I think it's ridiculous. I have really cut way down on bidding in auctions that go on forever including REA.

[Jay Wolt]

To me its simple.....
If you trust the auction house, place a max bid before you call it a night
If you don't trust the auction house, then you shouldn't be bidding at all

[z28jd]

I think it's the 15 minute rule that is too much. Why not five minutes without a bid? If you get two chuckleheads trying for one lot at the very end and they keep waiting the 15 minutes to bid, then everyone has to wait. I won something on LOTG, but it was already at my max bid around noon yesterday, so no reason to watch.

On the flip side, I've sat here watching multiple lots for hours and that's always annoying. Auction houses are not East Coast friendly, that is for sure.

[MikeKam]

I set max bids on two auctions and was outbid at 2:40AM, but I probably would have still bid more. Not really unfair, but guys that manage to wait out the entire auction have the luxury of keeping on clicking the bid button until it finally surpasses my max and I can't react to that.

I prefer auctions that end by individual lot and I doubt it really affects prices. I also don't mind what Clean Sweep does with penalizing bids with extra buyers premium after a certain time to discourage those late bids.

[glchen]

Auction houses want higher prices, so they go with the format that they think will bring in more bids. One of the reasons for all lots close at once is the ability to switch from lot to lot if you become outbid. For example, if you have three lots that you put bids out, but are currently losing on all 3, and have a $500 budget, you might first bid on the lot that you want most. However, if that lot exceeds your budget in extended bidding, you might want to switch to another lot. However, if the auction ends lot by lot, then that lot may already have ended, and you would not have a chance to bid on that lot any more. The other thing of course is that if you are busy (such as feeding or putting the kids to bed) when the countdown clock begins for extended bidding, then you may not have a chance to look at the bidding during extended time, and then auction may end before you can put your bids. (All of this is where you don't believe in max bids due to fear of shilling.)

Obviously, I'm on the west coast, so the all lots ending at once works great for me. I put in placeholder bids in the auction for all lots that I am interested in when the auction first opens. Then after all of the kids are asleep at night, I take a look at the bidding around 10:30 - 11pm PST, which is near 2am EST, and then put in any new bids that I think are worthwhile.

[MVSNYC]

Originally Posted by Jay Wolt

To me its simple.....
If you trust the auction house, place a max bid before you call it a night
If you don't trust the auction house, then you shouldn't be bidding at all

+1

[buymycards]

In my case it doesn't have anything to do with being able to stay awake. I have to get up at 5:00 every day, including many Saturdays, so I can be at work at 6. So, if I want to be productive at work I cannot stay up much past 11:00. I don't know how someone can hold down a job and still stay up to bid on these auctions. My best option is to place a max bid and see what happens.

Rick

[Iron Horse]

Agree 100%. I like auctions that end lots individually. They all should do it that way. What's the point of keeping everyone awake???

[ksabet]

I know Huggins ends theirs on a lot by lot basis and it seems to work for them.

I will put in max bids with houses I trust. Last night I won 6 lots all with max bids in LOTG. I don't know Al personally but the members on this site have made me feel more than comfortable doing this in his auctions.

[gnaz01]

Originally Posted by ksabet

I know Huggins ends theirs on a lot by lot basis and it seems to work for them.

I will put in max bids with houses I trust. Last night I won 6 lots all with max bids in LOTG. I don't know Al personally but the members on this site have made me feel more than comfortable doing this in his auctions.

I agree with Kiya, I won both my items with Max bids I put in 2 weeks ago and won them for less than my max, so it truly is a trust issue. Same thing with REA, won my only item I put in a bid 3 weeks earlier and won, getting it for $400 under my max bid.

[clydepepper]

I try to have my BST & EBAY auctions end during hours when I'm awake. If I lived on the West Coast, I'm not sure I would adjust the time for the bidders, but I guess the response I got would determine that.

I am getting too old to stay up through the night - I can always check the results in the morning. At this point in my life sleep is more important than any cardboard.

[steve_a]

My preference is lot by lot but I understand the drawbacks to it. I wonder if a hybrid system would work. AH software should be able to determine if a bidder has been active on any lot in the last, say, 15 minutes. Any one lot could close if all the bidders on that lot hadn't bid on any lot in the last 15. The countdown clock would be reset for each lot as an initial bidder bids anywhere. I think that solves the problem of being able to bid elsewhere once you lose a preferred lot. Make sense?