A few thoughts on REA bidding

[barrysloate]

Disagree. The auto-bid has to be set in alternate bids, and I've explained why so many times I couldn't bear to explain it again.

[barrysloate]

To add: if these online auctions worked like ebay the bonus bidding period would last about two days. Ebay increments are tiny because ebay lots close at a precise second. When you place a bid in REA you add 15 minutes to the auction. So with tiny increments the roughly eight to ten hour bonus period would turn into a fifty hour bonus period. Rob has painstakingly thought out the process and I think it works as well as it possibly can.

[Jim VB]

Barry's correct. The Auto-bid increments have to alternate or else people could play a blocking game. In the example you use: The Ruth is at $10,000. You bid $11,000. And you select $12,000 as a block. If someone else bids, he can't top you without going to $13,000. If no one bids, are you willing to pay the $12,000?

And as far as the increments being far apart, that only becomes an issue when the price gets up there. On a $10,000+ item, you wouldn't want the bidding increments to be $50.00. (This doesn't table well, but it's listed in their Terms & Conditions.)



Bidding increment table follows:



Minimum Value Maximum Value Expected Bid Increment



from US $ 0 to US $ 499 US $ 50

from US $ 500 to US $ 1999 US $ 100

from US $ 2000 to US $ 4999 US $ 250

from US $ 5000 to US $ 9999 US $ 500

from US $ 10000 to US $ 19999 US $ 1000

from US $ 20000 to US $ 49999 US $ 2500

from US $ 50000 to US $ 99999 US $ 5000

from US $ 100000 to US $ 499999 US $ 10000

from US $ 500000 to US $ 999999 US $ 50000

from US $ 1000000 and above US $ 100000

[E93]

Originally Posted by Jim VB

Barry's correct. The Auto-bid increments have to alternate or else people could play a blocking game. In the example you use: The Ruth is at $10,000. You bid $11,000. And you select $12,000 as a block. If someone else bids, he can't top you without going to $13,000. If no one bids, are you willing to pay the $12,000?
[/B]

This does not keep me up at night (the way this auction will on May 1st ), but in the given scenario, why could the auction software not accept the 11k bid with an "up to 12k" option. If someone bids 12k, then it registers my 12k bid and tells the latecomer to the 12k level that he has been beaten to punch by an autobid and the next bid is 13k. If he were smart, he would know that there were no more further autobids in place or the next option would have been 14k.

JimB

[Leon]

Originally Posted by E93

This does not keep me up at night (the way this auction will on May 1st ), but in the given scenario, why could the auction software not accept the 11k bid with an "up to 12k" option. If someone bids 12k, then it registers my 12k bid and tells the latecomer to the 12k level that he has been beaten to punch by an autobid and the next bid is 13k. If he were smart, he would know that there were no more further autobids in place or the next option would have been 14k.

JimB

Correct and has happened to me on several occasions.

[collectbaseball]

Originally Posted by E93

This does not keep me up at night (the way this auction will on May 1st ), but in the given scenario, why could the auction software not accept the 11k bid with an "up to 12k" option. If someone bids 12k, then it registers my 12k bid and tells the latecomer to the 12k level that he has been beaten to punch by an autobid and the next bid is 13k. If he were smart, he would know that there were no more further autobids in place or the next option would have been 14k.

JimB

I believe this is how ebay autobidding works -- if I place a max bid of $51 and someone comes along and places a $51 bid, I am still the high bidder at $51. But it indicates that the next possible bid is $52, so obviously the $51 is the highest max bid.

[barrysloate]

Jim- much to my chagrin the auction software I had did not necessitate alternate ceiling bids but allowed bidders to do it exactly as you said- if you bid 12K first and then they set their ceiling to 12K, they would be told somebody got there first who was the high bidder. Sounds fair, right?

Here is what really happens: bidders become irate, they don't understand what's going on, and they want to know why they were not high. They would call me at 1:00 AM to debate it, usually in the upper decibel level. To say it was a pain in the ass would be understating it. With alternate increments, that will never happen. Nobody will ever be tied.

[M's_Fan]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Jim- much to my chagrin the auction software I had did not necessitate alternate ceiling bids but allowed bidders to do it exactly as you said- if you bid 12K first and then they set their ceiling to 12K, they would be told somebody got there first who was the high bidder. Sounds fair, right?

Here is what really happens: bidders become irate, they don't understand what's going on, and they want to know why they were not high. They would call me at 1:00 AM to debate it, usually in the upper decibel level. To say it was a pain in the ass would be understating it. With alternate increments, that will never happen. Nobody will ever be tied.

This is how eBay works, I wonder if these knuckleheads get irate and call eBay when they tie with another bidder? I doubt that, for a couple of reasons: (1) When you tie with another bidder on eBay, but you didn't bid first, it simply says "you have been outbid by another bidder." Then you have to bid more. Its very simple. (2) eBay doesn't have bid slots with wide gaps, so people don't get mad, they just bid more. When you have wide gaps, people tend to get frustrated when someone else is parking in the bid slot, and you have to fork out a bunch of dough for the next slot.

In sum, they wouldn't even have to know they tied with another bidder, you just tell them they have been outbid, the same is if someone autobid higher. No way that could confuse anyone.

[oldjudge]

The reason the autobid is set as it is is so that a bidder never has to bid more than one increment higher than an EXISTING bid. If a bidder bid $10,000 on a lot and leaves an autobid for $11,000 then think how the system works. A new bidder sees a $10,000 high bid and he enters his bid at $11,000. This is one increment over the existing bid and he should be the high bid or be immediately topped by a $12,000 up to bid. Instead his bid is rejected and he is given the option of bidding $12,000. The second bidder is therefore denied the opportunity to top an existing bid by only one increment, and this is counter to the way that virtually every auction is run. Like I said, if bidders were allowed to bid any fixed increment they wanted (the way many auctions are structured) then a bidder could occupy any bid slot that he wanted.

[M's_Fan]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

The reason the autobid is set as it is is so that a bidder never has to bid more than one increment higher than an EXISTING bid. If a bidder bid $10,000 on a lot and leaves an autobid for $11,000 then think how the system works. A new bidder sees a $10,000 high bid and he enters his bid at $11,000. This is one increment over the existing bid and he should be the high bid or be immediately topped by a $12,000 up to bid. Instead his bid is rejected and he is given the option of bidding $13,000. The second bidder is therefore denied the opportunity to top an existing bid by only one increment, and this is counter to the way that virtually every auction is run. Like I said, if bidders were allowed to bid any fixed increment they wanted (the way many auctions are structured) then a bidder could occupy any bid slot that he wanted.

+1

[Tcards-Please]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

To add: if these online auctions worked like ebay the bonus bidding period would last about two days. Ebay increments are tiny because ebay lots close at a precise second. When you place a bid in REA you add 15 minutes to the auction. So with tiny increments the roughly eight to ten hour bonus period would turn into a fifty hour bonus period. Rob has painstakingly thought out the process and I think it works as well as it possibly can.

Barry,

Completely agree with you. I think the process is just fine the way it is.

[oldjudge]

One way to solve the problem would be to let bidders bid any absolute level they wanted. I believe under Rob's current system, if a lot is priced at $10,000, the bidder can only bid, as a fixed amount, $11,000. He (or she) can not bid $17,000 if for some reason they wanted to take the bidding to that level. Such a change would obviate the need to alter the autobid system.