Closing Tonight: Love of the Game Auctions

[Vintageclout]

Originally Posted by rhettyeakley

The same things have been said about the ending of auctions for years. People have tried to change things but the consensus is always that there will be some people that are unhappy with the way the auction ends (or at what time the auction ends.) I feel it is almost a broken record at this point and something you can plan on after every auction, the inevitable “I hate how this auction ended” type of post.

I am convinced there is no “right way” to end an auction.

I personally HATE the “each lot ending individually” format as I am always bidding on 30-40+ different lots and ending up with quite a few. Trying to balance that all out in 15 minute increments where sometimes you have 15-20 items all ending at the same moment and deciding where to bid and how much is impossible in that amount of time. I like the freedom to plan my bids out over time like the LOTG type format allows. On the other hand, if I was only bidding on one or two items in the auction then this format would probably be perfect. Again, this is my opinion.

I kind of agree with what Al reportedly told the poster above, “bid higher” as there is quite literally a format to do so. There is strategy in bidding in auctions and that isn’t the greatest strategy but if you 1.) trust the auction house, and 2) were willing go bid higher than the amount it sold for... then put in a max bid and get some rest.

I have lived in every time zone and I really didn’t notice that big of a difference... but then again I am a high functioning insomniac so that might help!?!

+1000 on the “lots ending individually issue”. As an active auction bidder, if I get in a bidding war on an item or two and lose, chances are the other lots I bid on will be closed if I try and go back to them. This has happened to me so many times over the years. Extra money to spend because I was taken out on one lot, and not being able to reallocate that money to another lot. It frustrates me as a bidder and would infuriate me as a consignor. Closing lots individually is literally taking money out of the consignors’ pockets because many bidders cannot go back and bid on closed lots.

[Stonepony]

Originally Posted by Vintageclout

+1000 on the “lots ending individually issue”. As an active auction bidder, if I get in a bidding war on an item or two and lose, chances are the other lots I bid on will be closed if I try and go back to them. This has happened to me so many times over the years. Extra money to spend because I was taken out on one lot, and not being able to reallocate that money to another lot. It frustrates me as a bidder and would infuriate me as a consignor. Closing lots individually is literally taking money out of the consignors’ pockets because many bidders cannot go back and bid on closed lots.

yep +1

[the-illini]

Auction ends, people aren't happy with how auction closed.

In other news, water is wet.

[CW]

I wish the guy I was bidding against was sleeping at 2am

Agree with Dan -- you can't please everyone.

[Shoeless Moe]

Originally Posted by the-illini

Auction ends, people aren't happy with how auction closed.

In other news, water is wet.

Chris do you sell on Ebay? Do you have your auctions end at 7, 8, 9 pm, or 2-3 am?

[3-2-count]

Everything collectors are asking for (both the consignor and bidder) could still be incorporated into an auction if ending at a reasonable hour.

Ending the auction at lets say no later than midnight EST could easily be done by just pushing the current system/rules back a bit which most AH's seem to follow.

I'm just not wrapping my head around how doing just that would affect the outcome or all parties involved (consignor, bidder & AH)

[the-illini]

Originally Posted by Shoeless Moe

Chris do you sell on Ebay? Do you have your auctions end at 7, 8, 9 pm, or 2-3 am?

No, I don’t sell on eBay.

[Fred]

I'd hate to see auctions end earlier because then I'll miss all of the threads about how everyone hates that auctions end so late.....

Now who said - "just bid higher?"

Sounds good to me!

[Exhibitman]

I thought the system was great. I plugged in placeholder bids early on for everything I was interested in so I'd have flex during OT. Not one of them held up, which was expected. I found one lot with no bids an hour before the close and bid on it. I was the sole bidder so I won it at the close and didn't have to think about it again. I then concentrated on the rest and ended up with one lot I wanted. There were plenty of emailed warnings and I thought I read that I could even have asked for a text alert had I really cared to.

I don't see what else can be done. Al owes it to the consignors to allow a bidding war over an item to continue until it exhausts. If you are east coast you bitch about the late close; if you are west coast you bitch about it if the auction closes in the afternoon. No one can ever be pleased 100%. If you want the certainty of a hard close time, go to eBay. This is an auction. Bidding goes on as long as it has to, and if this is your first time you have to bid.