The way auctions close?

[Stonepony]

I guess as a buyer I'd prefer a lot by lot close. As a consignor I'm not so sure.

[BleedinBlue]

My biggest issue with the "lot by lot" format is it limits where I can spend my money if I get outbid late in an auction. For instance. I am far from being a whale. But last night there were a dozen or so of the old judges that I was interested in. I didn't have the funds to buy all the lots I was interested in so because I was winning 2-3 lots I was effectively blocked due to fund limitations from bidding on the other lots I was interested in.

In a B&L auction a few months ago the other lots I was interested in but not high bidder on closed while I was still winning my financial limit of cards. So, when I eventually got outbid on the lots I was winning and those lots exceeded my perceived fair market value I went to sleep with money in my pocket for next time. Money I would have been willing to spend on lots that I no longer had the ability to bid on because they had already closed. So, in my case the sellers lost money because I could not bid on cards when my funds became available late in the auction.

However, auctions like last night are a mess for us east coasters. I got outbid at 3:55 am. I was not willing to go higher for the lot I was tracking at that point but since I was sleeping I was unable to go see if I was willing to spend my money elsewhere. The auction closed and I still have my money in my pocket.

Both formats have issues. Both prevented me from being a buyer recently. The lot by lot format results in lower total sales prices in my opinion though. But as a small time player right now I'm probably better off on the BST now anyway.

[vintagehofrookies]

I can't stand auctions that end at 2-3 in the morning as I always end up bidding less than I would if said auction ended by the 15-20 min rule. If I was an auction house I would worry that the all auctions end at the same time rule would basically eliminate any bidding wars that might occur as most people won't stay up until 3-4-5 am so the advantage goes to the West coast bidders who just hold off on their bids until that time instead of forcing them to enter their bids earlier which in turn could trigger a bidding war, a la higher closing prices for auctions.

[tiger8mush]

The 15-20 minute rule seems to extend an auction to the wee hours. How about after 10pm make it a 5 minute rule? Auction ends when there are no bids for 5 mins. At midnight if it is still going, make it a 3 minute clock.

[AMBST95]

I'm a small time bidder but have often found myself asleep at the wheel. I really enjoy Sterling's auctions as you only need 1 bid to then bid on any item in extended bidding. There have been several times I've switched midstream when the prices have gotten hairy. I really dislike auctions that end during the week, mostly due to the late end times.

The AHs have to strike a balance between bidder and consignor. I can see having extended bidding go to 1 or 2 am EST. This gives all 4 time zones a chance to actively bid. These lots are posted for up to a month in some cases, there's no need to extend things to odd times of the night/morning. When's the last time an automobile auction ended at 4:30 am EST? Do you see estate sales at 3 in the morning? It just doesn't make sense. The premise for these late running auctions I guess is you get all 4 time zones to bid and then maybe get a few bids late. If we're talking big time items with min bid increments that's a lot of extra money.

If your livelihood depends on the sale of these items or you have an extreme obsession with an item than I guess you'll stay up to the wee hours, but I'm assuming most collectors have other commitments that keep them from devoting that kind of time to the hobby as they need to earn the money they plan on using to bid with. In those cases they'll set a max bid and be happy with it. We all know there are bidders out there who will go beyond their max when in the moment and those are the people the AHs lose out on.

I think a solution is a smaller amount of time without a bid. 15 minutes is a lot of time. This would help to move things along and keep things from going so late. At a live auction will an auctioneer say going once, wait 5 minutes, say going twice, wait 5 minutes, say going three times, wait another 5 minutes then say closed?