Auction house closing times

[Brent G.]

University Archives runs its auction starting at 10 a.m. ET. I think a West Coaster can roll their ass out of bed at 7 a.m. for that a lot easier than an East Coaster can stay up till 2:45 a.m.

[raulus]

I suspect they think that their primary bidding demographic is located in Southeast Asia, so they're focused on making sure that those bidders can leisurely submit their final bids in the afternoon while the rest of us are sound asleep.

[Brent G.]

Originally Posted by raulus

I suspect they think that their primary bidding demographic is located in Southeast Asia, so they're focused on making sure that those bidders can leisurely submit their final bids in the afternoon while the rest of us are sound asleep.

I guess this is America, and we outsource everything, so perhaps someone in Vietnam is overseeing this auction from 12:30-2:45 p.m.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by Brent G.

I guess this is America, and we outsource everything, so perhaps someone in Vietnam is overseeing this auction from 12:30-2:45 p.m.

You lose a day at the Date Line when going to Viet Nam.

[JJ McGraw]

I guess , when bidding recently, I bid ( while still awake) my max and then go to bed. Usually I don’t win this way, but I have never liked this practice of “ regular bidding over….but wait….now EXTENDED bidding begins.” Many other venues I have participated in, like Gunbroker, have a specific beginning and end, and you can plan and count on that. There have been a lot of cool items this year on these auctions, but I absolutely hate extending bidding hours and hours after it should have ended. Nothing will change, the powers won’t read any of this, but sometimes, it’s good to vent.

[Brent G.]

Originally Posted by JJ McGraw

I guess , when bidding recently, I bid ( while still awake) my max and then go to bed. Usually I don’t win this way, but I have never liked this practice of “ regular bidding over….but wait….now EXTENDED bidding begins.” Many other venues I have participated in, like Gunbroker, have a specific beginning and end, and you can plan and count on that. There have been a lot of cool items this year on these auctions, but I absolutely hate extending bidding hours and hours after it should have ended. Nothing will change, the powers won’t read any of this, but sometimes, it’s good to vent.

I hear you, Mike. Maybe they believe we're prone to make worse decisions with our money late at night.

[Lorewalker]

Memory Lane's auctions consistently end at 5AM EST...some have gone later. I think I saw one that went until 9AM a few years ago. Judging by prices they get in every auction I would say it has not been a deterrent whatsoever. Buyers have insane stamina and tolerance for almost anything, it seems, as long as you offer them a card they need. Cards first and absolutely everything else is a distant second.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by JJ McGraw

I guess , when bidding recently, I bid ( while still awake) my max and then go to bed. Usually I don’t win this way, but I have never liked this practice of “ regular bidding over….but wait….now EXTENDED bidding begins.” Many other venues I have participated in, like Gunbroker, have a specific beginning and end, and you can plan and count on that. There have been a lot of cool items this year on these auctions, but I absolutely hate extending bidding hours and hours after it should have ended. Nothing will change, the powers won’t read any of this, but sometimes, it’s good to vent.

The point of extended bidding is to more accurately mimic a live auction. Could you imagine going to a live auction where, while an item was receiving bids, an auctioneer said, "whoops, sorry, time is up on that lot"

The best match would be a format where each lot ended after the previous lot finished receiving bids, which some general auction houses actually use, but if you think auctions run late now, yikes. If you only have a few hundred lots it's barely doable, but a 3000 lot auction could literally take a week to close.

To make it even remotely feasible the extended bidding models have evolved. I will say I definitely prefer the model where lost close on their own individual clocks, where one bid can't keep the entire auction open. But again, an auction of a given item isn't supposed to end at an arbitrary time, that is completely anathema to the point of an auction. An auction is supposed to end when nobody wants to place any more bids.

[Brent G.]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

The point of extended bidding is to more accurately mimic a live auction. Could you imagine going to a live auction where, while an item was receiving bids, an auctioneer said, "whoops, sorry, time is up on that lot"

The best match would be a format where each lot ended after the previous lot finished receiving bids, which some general auction houses actually use, but if you think auctions run late now, yikes. If you only have a few hundred lots it's barely doable, but a 3000 lot auction could literally take a week to close.

To make it even remotely feasible the extended bidding models have evolved. I will say I definitely prefer the model where lost close on their own individual clocks, where one bid can't keep the entire auction open. But again, an auction of a given item isn't supposed to end at an arbitrary time, that is completely anathema to the point of an auction. An auction is supposed to end when nobody wants to place any more bids.

I think all this can be achieved before midnight EST.

[Peter_Spaeth]

As people get more and more tired (and in some cases more drunk) they get more irrational. And if you're an auction house, if it's working, don't fix it.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Brent G.

University Archives runs its auction starting at 10 a.m. ET. I think a West Coaster can roll their ass out of bed at 7 a.m. for that a lot easier than an East Coaster can stay up till 2:45 a.m.

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East Coast gets the National every year, West Coast gets better auction times.

And so it was written by the card collecting Gods...
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[ValKehl]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

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East Coast gets the National every year, West Coast gets better auction times.

And so it was written by the card collecting Gods...
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Phil, even though you are a West Coaster, I assume you are aware that Chicago is on the shore of Lake Michigan, which I don't believe is considered the East Coast!

Hope all is going well for you.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by ValKehl

Phil, even though you are a West Coaster, I assume you are aware that Chicago is on the shore of Lake Michigan, which I don't believe is considered the East Coast!

Hope all is going well for you.

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Hi Val,

All quiet on the western front, thanks for asking. I got excited for you when I saw a Sam Rice Witmor come up in a recent auction, unfortunately it wasn't a vertical back.

And I suppose the East/West demarcation line is geographically relevant, everything East of the Rockies is East Coast to me :-)

[oldjudge]

They do it because it maximizes realizations; if it didn't, or if they didn't believe it did, they wouldn't do it. The auctioneers don't enjoy staying up late any more than you do.

[JollyElm]

1119. Nightsnagging
Any West Coast bidder using the two or three ‘extra’ hours to score auction wins as a huge portion of his competition lies asleep in bed due to the time difference.

See also: Discounting Sheep - a mocking way to describe the money you’ve saved as your competition was too busy getting some shut-eye to bid in the auction.

[Steve D]

Auctions that drag on forever, often into the next day-break are definitely a problem; but on the other hand, so are auctions that end too soon.

For example, a recent auction had what was essentially a 15 minute-long extended bidding period. I put in bids on over two dozen items during normal bidding; then in extended bidding, there was simply not enough time to increase my bids on the items I was most interested in. I won three lots, but there were three other lots that ended a minute or two before I got to them. Interestingly, all six items ended at what most would consider low winning bids.

Auctions need to give bidders enough time to bid, but not drag on forever.

Steve

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by ValKehl

Phil, even though you are a West Coaster, I assume you are aware that Chicago is on the shore of Lake Michigan, which I don't believe is considered the East Coast!

Hope all is going well for you.

Val, one of my favorite examples of California-speak occurred soon after my arrival here in 1978. I was frequently asked if I was from "Back East". Defining "Back East" varied, based on the questioners life history. For a young adult from the San Fernando Valley who had never ventured east of Burbank, if he was asking someone from San Bernardino (75 miles) east of LA where he was from, that someone qualified as being from "Back East", and "Back East" was an accepted response. Don't underestimate "Back East" Val.

It really didn't matter where in the Back East you were from, you were just another migrant.

[ValKehl]

Phil and Frank, thanks for the colloquial geography lessons. I get what you two are saying. I was born in and have lived my entore life in the VA suburbs of DC. When I was a kid, when someone said they were from out West, I assumed they meant west of the Blue Ridge Mountains (which are in VA), or maybe from as far away as West VA.