Rea

[Vintageclout]

Originally Posted by Leon

Then you get outbid on one you are going for, won't go higher, and your second choice just closed. I agree I like lot by lot ending the best but there is no perfect ending.

Hi Leon it’s JoeT. Personally, I hate “lot by lot” closing. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve fallen short in a huge bidding war, with it too late to revisit the remaining lots I was also interested in because they closed. True, the auction ends earlier, but I rather trade a single night of good sleep for a great memorabilia piece any day of the week! Also, from a Consignors perspective, I can only imagine the number of bids the lot by lot closing format costs the Consignors. I always felt it is the auction house’s #1 responsibility to do whatever it can to maximize bids via marketing, presentation, bidding process, etc. Simply stated, no consignments = no auction business.

[x2drich2000]

Originally Posted by Vintageclout

Hi Leon it’s JoeT. Personally, I hate “lot by lot” closing. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve fallen short in a huge bidding war, with it too late to revisit the remaining lots I was also interested in because they closed. True, the auction ends earlier, but I rather trade a single night of good sleep for a great memorabilia piece any day of the week! Also, from a Consignors perspective, I can only imagine the number of bids the lot by lot closing format costs the Consignors. I always felt it is the auction house’s #1 responsibility to do whatever it can to maximize bids via marketing, presentation, bidding process, etc. Simply stated, no consignments = no auction business.

I 100% agree with this.

[sb1]

Originally Posted by Vintageclout

Hi Leon it’s JoeT. Personally, I hate “lot by lot” closing. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve fallen short in a huge bidding war, with it too late to revisit the remaining lots I was also interested in because they closed. True, the auction ends earlier, but I rather trade a single night of good sleep for a great memorabilia piece any day of the week! Also, from a Consignors perspective, I can only imagine the number of bids the lot by lot closing format costs the Consignors. I always felt it is the auction house’s #1 responsibility to do whatever it can to maximize bids via marketing, presentation, bidding process, etc. Simply stated, no consignments = no auction business.

Joe T.

I could not disagree more, the lots ending one by one with a hard close see much more spirited bidding(unless it's a somewhat commodity type of lot) and usually result in higher price than the ones that close at 5am with only 1 or 2 bids past the initial closing. The lot by lot forces competition, which many bidders want to avoid and stay up all night to try and bid at the last second.

Having ran and more importantly bid in 100's of auctions, it almost always costs me more on an item when I confront another bidder and we get into a bidding war for 30 minutes to an hour when the lot is closing with 10 or 15 or 30 minute bid windows, instead of one of us "sniping" the item at 5:00 am when the other was probably the high bidder and went to bed. The last scenario is what costs consignor's money.

Invariably auctions that close lot by lot, see the items get to their market value much quicker than one that last all night, as the bidders know that they have to get their bids in and compete to win, which in turn results in higher prices to the consignor.

Scott

[Vintageclout]

Scott,

While I certainly respect your viewpoint, my experience has been somewhat different. I enjoy jumping to other lots when I’ve bern bested on others and the lot by lot closing basically eliminates a majority of that option. Also, if you closely watch REA’s recent bids option, you will certainly notice the flood of bids that pour in every minute the final 2/3 hours, that easily exceed “lot by lot” bidding in virtually any auction after the deadline for initial bids. For example, I bid on nearly 100 lots in Heritage’s last auction and 80%+ of those lots NEVER got another hit after the 11:00 30-minute countdown. Thus, I could not go back on any of them after losing out on several key lots by 11:45/12:00. Lots of potential bids Consignors never got to realize.

To each his own I guess...everyone will have their own perspective. As BIGFISH so eloquently stated, there is no perfect auction close formula to choose. Hope all is well my good friend, and I’ll see you in Cleveland!

Best Regards,
Joe T.