Re: [MOPO] An odd incident on this past Sunday Heritage Auction

[Todd Spoor]

To All, I really don't see the point of extended bidding, if you put in the MAXIMUM you want to spend in the first place, if you get outbid in the last second, so what, you weren't going to spend more than that anyways!!! Sniping is a great way to enter a Maximum bid and NOT have to watch the auction especially if it closes at an odd time or if you are at work. I win 99% of every auction I bid because of sniping plus the AUCTION HOUSE can not see my maximum bid!!! Todd Spoor -----Original Message----- From: James Richard Sent: Sep 28, 2009 4:05 PM To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU Subject: Re: [MOPO] An odd incident on this past Sunday Heritage Auction Grey, How is extended bidding a waste of time? If no last second bid comes in, then the auction closes as scheduled. If a last second bid does come in, automatically extending the auction's end time by maybe 2 minutes gives other bidders who want the item a chance to trump the last-second bid. Hardly a waste of their time if it means they win and auction they otherwise would have lost -- and both Heritage and the consigner make more money. Where's the downside? I do think the implementation of extended bidding at emovieposter.com is too broad. I think in that case that if a bid comes in during the last 5 minutes the end time is extended by 5 minutes -- since lots of people prefer to place a bid in the last couple of minutes, parameters like that *do* tend to waste people's time. To work more efficiently, parameters should probably be 1 or 2 minutes. An extra 2 minutes isn't going to bother someone -- not if they really want the poster -- and it puts everyone on a level playing field whether they are using gavelsnipe.com or not. -- JR Smith, Grey - 1367 wrote: Hi, John. Well, the email was supposed to go private but my mistake. Yes, many snipe bid on the site now. In fact, as you are aware, we end all items at 10PM CT every Sunday evening, so many prefer not to have to sit by the computer. My belief is that the extended bidding platform is a waste of our bidder’s time, though one of our other divisions does use it. Grey   From: JOHN REID Vintage Movie Memorabilia [mailto:johnr...@moviemem.com] Sent: Monday, September 28, 2009 1:35 PM To: Smith, Grey - 1367; MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU Subject: Re: [MOPO] An odd incident on this past Sunday Heritage Auction   Hi Grey I had no idea that you could snipe on Heritage. That makes bidding a lot easier and I will use it in future. Regards John       Website: www.moviemem.com   JOHN REID VINTAGE MOVIE MEMORABILIA PO Box 92 Palm Beach Qld 4221 Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: Smith, Grey - 1367 To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 4:27 AM Subject: Re: [MOPO] An odd incident on this past Sunday Heritage Auction   Jeff, I am writing you privately concerning this as this does concern me and I believe it  is because you seem to be unaware that there is a very good snipe program that works on our site. Many, many use the program. It is called Gavelsnip.com and is free to use. Also works on eBay! I know the buyer of the lot you are concerned about and emailed him asking him to perhaps privately email you and tell you how his bid was placed. It may happen and he may not. He is a gentleman that lives in California and buys frequently with us. All the best, Grey Smith   From: MoPo List [mailto:mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU] On Behalf Of Jeff Herdan Sent: Monday, September 28, 2009 12:34 PM To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU Subject: [MOPO] An odd incident on this past Sunday Heritage Auction   I had a very interesting experience in yesterday’s Heritage Sunday auction.   I bid on lot #54132 (Buck Jones ‘Desert Vengeance’ Lobby Title Card).  I placed a bid of $260 + 19 ½ % buyer’s premium (total of $310.70). .I made the bid with less than 1 minute to go.  The previous high bid was $80 (+premium) and when my bid was listed as the high bid, my bid was shown as $150 (plus premium)…again with less than 1 minute to go.   I watched the seconds tick down and when there was literally 1 second to go, I was still the high bidder at $150.  However, when the auction ended, it suddenly showed a high bid of $280 (plus premium).  Somehow I was outbid.   I wonder how this happened….was it a fluke that someone with hands as quick as Eli Manning just made the higher bid with 1 second on the clock or maybe it was an ‘internal bidder’ who recognized that I was about to make a good purchase.    Frankly with all the press that is going on regarding shill bidding in Auction houses (with Heritage being named as one who uses internal bidders and fictitious bidders, I seriously wonder if this was just such a case….I cannot be sure, but it certainly leaves one to pause to think.   I know that I will not participate in future Heritage auctions.  Any thoughts?   Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu 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: lists...@listserv.american.edu 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: lists...@listserv.american.edu 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: lists...@listserv.american.edu 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: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.