I don't think it's uniformed at all - just a different opinion. There is no question that a definite end time favors buyers over sellers. An extended auction favors the auctioneer and consignors. And any seller that hosts their own auctions has the potential to abuse the system - but I will say that I don't think Grey or Bruce do abuse this at all and that they run clean auctions.
----- Original Message ----- From: Bruce Hershenson To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, September 28, 2009 6:59 PM Subject: Re: [MOPO] An odd incident on this past Sunday Heritage Auction The below is remarkably uninformed. The vast majority of bidders who bid in the closing five minutes (thus extending the auction) bid EXACTLY one increment over the existing high bid. because they know to a certainty that if they ARE outbid, they now have another five minutes to re-bid. Say the bid is currently $310. At this level the bid increment is $10, so the person enters $320. If he/she is now the high bidder, then they have to make it through the next five minutes, and the item is theirs, and if someone else outbids their $320 bid, they have five minutes to notice that and bid again, only this time $330. What if the $320 bid were outbid, because the $310 proxy bidder had a "left bid" of over $320? If the left bid was say, $400, then when the bidder bid $320, he would immediately be told he was outbid and that the bid was now $330. He could then either give up, or immediately re-bid, only this time $340, and each time he would have the opportunity to bid again, for a full five minutes. A person bidding this way (which as I say, is the way the vast majority of bidders who bid in the closing five minutes bid) can never be "run up", because their high bid is always the current bid. Contrast this to the auctions with no time extension. THERE, when you are watching the item with five minutes to go, and the bid is currently $310, you have to enter a much higher bid to have even a reasonable chance of getting that item, BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER GET ANOTHER CHANCE TO BID WHEN THE CLOCK RUNS OUT. Now of course, if the auction does not have sniping, then you must enter that bid with the auction itself, and they now CAN "run you up". So actually the auction that has time extensions actually has far greater protection against the bidder being "run up". You ask, what about the auctions with fixed time ends that DO have sniping? Yes, in that case a sniper has equal protection against being "run up" as in a time extended auction. But that is only true if the auction that has sniping lets its bidders know of it! I would bet anything that most of the members here had NO CLUE this auction had sniping. A cynic might say that they don't want their bidders to know they can snipe THROUGH A THIRD PARTY, because then their snipe bids are hidden from the auction house. But the real test of whether auctions "run bidders up" is NOT whether or not the auction has time-extended auctions, but how often bidders who give high "left" bids get items for FAR under their maximum, and how often bidders who give high "left" bids get items for EXACTLY their maximum, or just slightly below. I KNOW from my bidders that they OFTEN get items for FAR under their maximum, and I have heard far too often of bidders at certain other auctions who give high "left" bids and who get those items for EXACTLY their maximum, or just slightly below. Bruce On Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 4:38 PM, Sean Linkenback <[email protected]> wrote: Extended bidding (especially with an auctioneer that hosts their own auctions) merely allows the auctioneer to see what items are being extended, check the high bids and then run them up if they wish. 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.
