BST Live Auctions Section - Suggestions

[Leon]

I like the auction extension idea but I think it might need to be shorter than 10 minutes? On a $1 increment you could go on for quite a while, maybe...I dunno, but I do like this idea. Maybe extended bidding starts at 9pm cst?

I am revising the top as we go....

Originally Posted by HercDriver

Having a set end time is a bad idea, in my opinion. I can’t remember who it was, but a member was auctioning a nice T206 and left a lot of money on the table because somebody placed a bid for a dollar higher, at the last second. I’m sure the underbidder would have ponied up another buck for it, but didn’t get the chance. Since you can’t set a max bid in the BST format, sniping will hurt sellers of nice, vintage cards. You can see how I handle it if you look at the auction I posted today, if you want to take a look. I would like to see something like that. PMing a max bid is a poor second option, but doable.

Cheers,
Geno

[rajah424]

- Only bump your auction once, the morning of the day it ends.
- No need to respond with "Sold" or "Closed" just edit the original post.

[jiw98]

Originally Posted by rajah424

- Only bump your auction once, the morning of the day it ends.
- No need to respond with "Sold" or "Closed" just edit the original post.

+1
Maybe lock all auctions when they end so they can't be bumped to the top.

[90feetaway]

Just a thought, would the $1 start discourage higher value auctions in that someone risks starting too low so there's not enough bids to get it up to a reasonable value? Thereby you'll see more lower value items get auctioned.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by 90feetaway

Just a thought, would the $1 start discourage higher value auctions in that someone risks starting too low so there's not enough bids to get it up to a reasonable value? Thereby you'll see more lower value items get auctioned.

Lower value is a relative term. The risk of a nice raw T206 or T205, valued at 50-100 dollars, to go very cheap, probably isn't going to happen over there. There are just too many flippers, collectors and dealers here. At some point I am sure I have fit all of those descriptions, though I feel I am a collector first. That said, if I see a good deal over there I will buy it.
Once this gets settled I will throw a few items up for 100+ dollars each....We'll see. I don't care if big items are auctioned there, that is what AH's are for.. This is supposed to mainly be fun....
.

[Fred]

After the last thread about the BST auctions, there were several nice offerings put on the block in that section. It was nice to see some "fun" vintage material being made available.

I'll check the auctions more often if there continues to be vintage material being put on the block.

[JollyElm]

• Having everything starting at a buck or whatever shouldn't be the case. You should allow the auctioneers to decide the pricing for themselves. The same weekly starting/ending time? I like that a lot.

• If the $1 (or was it 99 cents?) auctions do become the rule, then perhaps hidden reserves should be allowed if auctioneers want them for self-protection. Start the auction at $1, but PM Leon with your hidden reserve amount (I know, he doesn't want MORE PMs). That way, if the reserve is met, no problem. If it falls short, then you have proof of what the pre-auction-determined reserve was.

• The 1950 cutoff is awful, IMHO. The many people here who collect Topps-era cards (1950s - 1970s) should not be grouped in with all of the modern stuff. The most effective way to balance things would be to have three categories: pre-war, post-war Topps-era, and modern/everything else.

[Casey2296]

I would suggest a Sunday night end and a Wednesday night end, that way things don't hang around for a week.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

I would suggest a Sunday night end and a Wednesday night end, that way things don't hang around for a week.

I am unsure about 2 closings but made some tweaks to the few proposed rules in the first post. I don't want to get too deep into rules, because then they need to be enforced. And I don't think I want another section, in addition to the 2 being suggested in the first post...but everything is still on the table. It could be fun over there if done right. But I am not going to manage it a lot or it won't be there ...
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[carlsonjok]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

• Having everything starting at a buck or whatever shouldn't be the case. You should allow the auctioneers to decide the pricing for themselves. The same weekly starting/ending time? I like that a lot.

• If the $1 (or was it 99 cents?) auctions do become the rule, then perhaps hidden reserves should be allowed if auctioneers want them for self-protection. Start the auction at $1, but PM Leon with your hidden reserve amount (I know, he doesn't want MORE PMs). That way, if the reserve is met, no problem. If it falls short, then you have proof of what the pre-auction-determined reserve was.

I'm not picking on Darren specifically here but using it as a launching off point.

Generally speaking, most of the comments here are about sellers want to set the auction section up to protect themselves on the downside while giving them the added opportunity to potentially get more than if they just listed the card(s) in the regular BST forum. Letting the seller set the opening bid, or a hidden reserve, is driving us back to the old auction format that was being criticized in the previous thread. If they are concerned about not getting enough for what they are trying to sell, then maybe the auction place isn't for them. With regard to sellers fearing that they may be leaving money on the table by listing something in the BST, there are two options: first, they can just go to eBay where there are significantly more eyeballs. Or, they can set their cards up in BST as "high price or OBO." Essentially, a Dutch auction.

As a buyer, I can count the number of transactions I've done here in the last year on one hand and have a couple fingers left over. I accept that no small part of that is because I swim in a shallower end of the hobby pool (post-war, mid-grade, raw) than most members. But, it seems (to me anyways) like the auction section is full of stuff no one wants or things where the starting bid is where the sold eBay comps are at. And the BST seems to be (again to me) full of items that are priced above eBay comps.

Basically, the sellers can't have it both ways. If they want to take a chance to clean up in the auction section, then they should be willing to take the risk in the other direction.

[Bigdaddy]

Any minimum bid increments? $0.01? $1? or something based on the last price, like eBay. If a high bid did not meet the min increment, then leave it to the seller to either award the underbidder or increase the high bid to the min increment.

Agree with previous comments that if folks don't like the $1 min, then list the card in the BST - you can set your own price there.

The good thing here is that we can try something and if it doesn't work well, Leon can tweak the rules or shut it down.