What is the point of you seeing a bid in the last few seconds if you cannot outbid me (as you stated). There isn't a single poster that I cannot buy so if I want it I can bid with an outrageous price and you cannot beat me. For example: If a poster has a value around $4,000 to $5,000 based on rarity and recent sales, what good does it do you if I place a snipe bid of $10,000? You are tilting at windmills. There was a poster I wanted a while ago with a value of $5,000 based on previous sales and similar titles by the same actor. I placed a snipe bid of $15,000. So what does the knowledge of being beaten every time you place an extended bid do you? You can't win. There can only be one winner and these weekly auctions have to end sometime. The most important factor here is this. I will not under any circumstances place a very high bid in an extended format so the loser is the seller. I do not want anyone to know what I am willing to pay for a poster. Sniping is the only way to go. CJL In a message dated 9/28/2009 5:33:21 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, jrl...@mediabearonline.com writes:
Todd (and others opposed to 1 or 2 minute extended bidding times), This is an example where modern technology has corrupted our cultural philosophy. Letting the sniper programs battle it out in the last micro-seconds behind the scenes where no one can see what is going on is just fine if you don't care about the concept of public auctions being a level playing field where everyone bidding has the opportunity to keep bidding after a higher bid has trumped their own. But that is exactly how things are done at live auctions. Why shouldn't it work that way for internet auctions? Just because Ebay never did it that way? I *like* sniper programs and use them. I do agree that it is a good thing if the auction house cannot see your maximum bid -- no temptation, no potential conflict of interest and no foul. That's one of the big positive aspects of sniping programs. And, as you say, it's great that you don't have to sit at the computer with your fingers glued to the mouse counting down those last seconds. But we all know that one's theoretical "maximum bid" is not always writ in stone. Have you never adjusted your maximum snipe bid as the auction was nearing its close and you saw how the bidding was going and decided that maybe your original maximum might not be quite enough? I certainly have. If someone has enough money to place extremely high maximum sniper bids on anything they want and so virtually guarantee they will win 99% of what they bid on... well that's very nice for them, isn't it? But most of us -- even those who do use sniper programs like myself -- don't have that luxury and we should be able to see what the last bid is and decide (quickly) if we want to try to outbid or not. Fair is fair. -- JR Todd Spoor wrote: 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: _mop...@listserv.american.edu_ (mailto: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 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.
