Re: [MOPO] How to Beat The Clock

[Movie Poster Bid]

Claude,   I suppose we'll have to agree to differ on this. But it's interesting you should mention Bruce in this regard. In one of our conversations several months ago, Bruce actually brought up the idea of extending auction end times to me, before we were seriously considering applying the idea ourselves. Seems he's in favor of it (even with the massive number of auctions he puts up every week). Like me, Bruce feels that the current sniper-dominance of desirable auctions is a negative -- both for the seller and the overall bidding environment.   The problem comes from sniper programs forcing most people to guess what amount they should put in as their sniper bid -- that is, if you don't have such incredibly deep pockets that you can just put in any amount. If you guess what you feel the poster "is worth" -- either to you personally or based on what they have been going for lately, you may well lose to someone who guesses higher (or someone who can afford to put in any bid he wants to). You have no last chance "fair warning" opportunity to up your guess in light of the last bid -- because the last bids are submitted behind the scenes in the last microseconds by the sniper programs. So, whomever guessed highest wins.   In a very important way, that's not really an auction -- it's more of a guessing game. In a real auction, you are supposed to be able to see the last bid... even at the last second... and have a chance to trump it if you want. That ability is what defines an "auction" as such. That type of visible action in an auction is good for the seller and good for the bidding environment (and for creating auction excitement, something woefully missing from eBay ever since the sniper programs took over).   You seem to forget that for many years the auctions on eBay were not subject to sniper bids -- the sniper programs had not yet been invented. People had to actually watch an item they wanted close in real time and place their last second bids manually... and hopefully get back a response from eBay that let them know if they were the high bid or not and maybe get in another bid before the close. It wasn't perfect, and those with a higher speed connection definitely had an edge over those who didn't, but at least the bidders could see what was happening and the last bid showing when the auction ended was in fact the winning bid. There was nothing funny happening "behind the scenes" in the last microsecond and there was often bidding excitement generated as the auction neared its close and people visibly competed head-to-head.   I'm not necessarily trying to "recapture" anything, but I don't see anything wrong with giving as many bidding options as possible to people -- including restoring the ability to see what the last bid is and a chance to respond to it.   -- JR   ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2005 19:11 Subject: Re: [MOPO] How to Beat The Clock I still disagree with your thinking.  No matter what the rules are people are smart enough to learn to play the game. If a poster is worth 750 or less to 5 people and 2000 plus to 2  then under the present system the 5 will drop out after it reaches 750 and the other two will duke it out until one drops off.  If one has a limit of 2100 then the one who has a limit of 2500 will win.  The only difference is it will end with the sniping bids in the present system. With your system it could go on for another hour or more.   If you go to a never ending format then everyone, including myself will bid differently.  We will bid in minimum increments until the auction finally ends.  No matter what you say or think, this format in which you extend the ending time will only frustrate people who want the auction to end, so they can go on with their lives.   You are trying to revive the past in which there were not many live auctions and no ebay.  There is so much material on ebay on a daily basis that it is really imperative to end auctions and not draw them out just because people are sore losers when they lose to a snipe bid.   The person who is willing to pay the most will still win no matter when you end the auction.   There is only one winner per auction and it is always the one willing to bid the highest.  In any case, try it and you will lose bidders because I would never leave a high bid that can be bid in in minimum increments in perpetuity.    When you have thousands of posters ending all day long on ebay it is not possible to be at the computer on an extended period unless you have nothing else to do.  You will also not be able to grow with never ending auctions.  I spend about 30 minutes a day on posters and that is all I am willing to devote of my time.   One last thought------With all the bids Bruce gets and the number of posters he auctions each week, try to imagine extending each one as people up each other with a minimum incremental raise.  Get real--this is the internet and not a live auction.   Claude Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.