Discussion about B.S.T. Auction End Times and Determining an Auction Winner...

[sbfinley]

I agree with the five minute rule. But it is entirely up to the auctioneer. And hey, If the auction runs over, I believe it's a positive for the seller. Any way, shape, or form of it I am extremely pleased with both the B/S/T and the auction threads lately as there have been a plethora of swag to be had.

[Adam]

I hope the ability to edit a posting (and thus the ability to edit a bid) never becomes an issue. Take this example:

- At 3:00, someone bids $100 for Item A;

- At 3:10, a person who had planned to bid $11 for Item A does not post their bid, as they see the $100 bid posted at 3:00;

- At 3:14, the person who placed the $100 bid at 3:00 edits that bid down to $10, as it was never their intention to bid $100, they merely hit an extra zero by mistake;

- At 3:15, the auction ends as per the end time previously indicated by the seller.

The end result is an auction item that should have sold for $11 instead selling for $10 due to the ability to edit a post.

(note: The solution to this could be an explicit prohibition, or rule, on editing after placing a bid.)

[Leon]

A post will always be shown to have an edit in it when one is done. If anyone tries any funny business I doubt they would get away with it for very long. I can't imagine we would let that person be on the board any longer either....

I still go back to my originall KISS method of saying when it ends....but again, what do I know?. "All bids must be in before XX"
...Some day maybe we will integrate some auction s/w into the BST but that would be a big undertaking and is not on the agenda at this time.....

[FrankWakefield]

Matt and Brad,

Let go of the idea of seconds ( units of time ) in your heads, to understand this. Here on this board, at present, time is measured in increments of minutes. It matters not of the Net54 clock goes from "9:59" to "10"00" at 9:59:31, or 10:00:00, or when....

If a bidder bids $200 at 9:59pm in an auction closing at 10:00pm with a 5 minute rule, then what seems simple is that the auction ends at 10:04, and any bids that are posted with a 10:04 time would be accepted... If someone constantly monitoring and refreshing the thread saw that a $210 bid with a time mark of 10:04 actually occurred 5 minutes 26 seconds or 5 minutes 47 seconds after that $200 bid would be making that observation with a false perception of precision.

It seems obvious to me that 5 minutes is 5 minutes. And you don't cut off the auction 4 minutes later with a 5 minute rule... If I understand what you guys are querying it would be similar to when was the milleinium? Lacking a year 0 anno domini, the year 1000 would have been the 999th year, 2000 the 1999th year, and all of the hoopla at New Year's January 1 2000 was a year early.


Simply, 5 minutes is 5 minutes. An auction ending at 10pm with a 5 minute rule and a bid marked 9:58 would end at 10:03, that is at the conclusion of the 5th minute after that 9:58 bid. A bid marked 10:03 would be timely, a bid marked 10:04 would be late.

Surely it isn't being suggested that a 5 minute rule means 4 minutes???

[Leon]

Crazy me would have thought an auction ending at 10 with a 5 minute rule would have ended at 10:05 with no bids after 10, regardless of bids before 10.....I am far too simple minded....