Auction House Strategy

[ousooner_85]

Personally, I'm not staying up into the early morning hours to see if I'm still the high bidder on an item. There have been numerous items that I would have continued to bid on if outbid in a reasonable amount of time. I prefer some sort of per item time limit, my participation in bidding is increased and my interest level remains fixed.

I would have to do a little research but my percentage of auctions won, bids placed on items, etc. is considerably greater with time limit lots and auctions.

[BirdsOnBat]

I always calculate what I would be willing to spend + hammer and when I get sleepy I just punch it in and go to bed. With Goldin's good reputation I know the bid won't be auto-bid up by shills so I can rest easy and if someone wants to pay more, so be it. They deserve it. My $0.02

[G1X]

Ok
What's a reasonable hour, and whTs a better suggestion
Before someone says " lot by lot" I will tell you that in a large 1500 lot auction that is ruled OUT
2 reasons
1 majority of my Consignors do not want it
2 I have some people that bid on over 50! Lots, some over 100 lots
I have had people win 50+ lots on same auction
It is mathematically impossible for them to keep up with bids if lot by lot

However, I am looking for positive suggestions
Each of the last three auctions I have closed earlier, even if marginally so.
In the babe Ruth auction a smaller one I. Put a 1 am mandatory close on
I am open to suggestions...
Fire away

Ken,

Why not try lot-by-lot closing to see how it works? Some of the other successful auction companies (MLB Auctions, NFL Auctions, Hunt Auctions, Heritage Auctions, MEARS, etc.) don't seem to have a problem with it. While I understand your desire to please your consignors and maximize both their profits and yours, buyers are just as important (if not more so) part of the auction process. It takes all 3 parties to make an auction work.

As for a buyer juggling a number of items that have the potential of closing at the same time, I have personally found that it is much easier to keep up with items when the lots close one-by-one. There are ways that a bidder can control that issue as anyone who bids on MLB or NFL auction has probably witnessed. I am certainly not going to tip off this "trade secret", but I would guess that many collectors are probably aware of how to space out the closing times as a bidder to prevent everything they are bidding on from closing at the same time.

If you are not going to close on a lot-by-lot basis, at least change the initial closing time so that the extended bidding ends at a more reasonable hour. I would guess that the largest percentage of your bidders live in the Eastern and Central time zones, yet those are the ones suffering the most. West Coast bidders are 3 hours behind (the midnight hour is much more palatable than 3:00 a.m. or later for us East Coast bidders), your European bidders are currently seeing a wonderful closing time of early to mid-morning, Pacific Rim bidders are seeing a late afternoon closing, and our friends in Hawaii are looking at a very nice closing time during the evening hours.

It is certainly not my place to tell you how to run your business, but since you asked, I have shared my candid observations. Try a lot-by-lot closing once and see how it works. You might be pleasantly surprised!

Regards,

Mark Hayne
Gridiron Exchange

[KGoldin]

WHAT ABOUT A HARD AUCTION CLOSE OF 3 AM?
if 15 minute clock expires, auction is over.
however, if that does NOT HAPPEN, no matter how busy auction is, there is a 'hard close' at 3 am.
this allows anyone to log in at 255 and protect their lot if they want to, and takes away uncertainty
thoughts?

[nevrdiez34]

WHAT ABOUT A HARD AUCTION CLOSE OF 3 AM?
if 15 minute clock expires, auction is over.
however, if that does NOT HAPPEN, no matter how busy auction is, there is a 'hard close' at 3 am.
this allows anyone to log in at 255 and protect their lot if they want to, and takes away uncertainty
thoughts?

In my opinion that is ideal.

[Birdbats]

Ken, auctions with a 15-minute rule like yours make me a passive bidder. Even with a 3 a.m. hard close, I'd remain a passive bidder. By passive bidder, I mean I'll place a bid and go to bed (and assume that when I wake up the next day, I'll have been outbid). I'm looking forward to Heritage's auction this coming Friday because I'm bidding on six lots that close individually. Not only will I know what I've won and lost before bedtime, but I'll be an active bidder. I'll be on my computer, following each lot, bidding appropriately, and changing my strategy as bidding activity progresses. If one lot gets out of my price range, then I'll throw my resources elsewhere and increase my odds of winning other lots.

This isn't just beneficial to me as a bidder, but I believe it can help consignors. Consider this scenario: In your auction, I'd bid $1,000 on six lots and go to bed. All six could sell for $1,100. If I'm actively bidding, I might bail out on four lots when they hit a grand... but, I might spend $1,600 or more on the two lots I ultimately target. So, two bidders stand to earn $500 more each because I was an active bidder able to reallocate my spend. It's fair to ask, "Why not place $1,600 max bids on all six lots, go to bed and take your chances?" Well, if I somehow won all six, that would blow my budget out of the water. By being an active bidder, I can get aggressive on certain lots and stay within my overall budget.

All of this is a long way of agreeing with Mark. A 3 a.m. hard close, to me, is no different than keeping the entire auction open until no lot receives a bid.

[G1X]

WHAT ABOUT A HARD AUCTION CLOSE OF 3 AM?
if 15 minute clock expires, auction is over.
however, if that does NOT HAPPEN, no matter how busy auction is, there is a 'hard close' at 3 am.
this allows anyone to log in at 255 and protect their lot if they want to, and takes away uncertainty
thoughts?

Ken,

But nothing really changes for the most part, especially for us poor souls east of the Mississippi River, and probably for many in the Western time zones as well. It's more about the time of day (er, night) that the auction closes. I would think that 2, 3, or 4 a.m. is simply not a reasonable hour for most folks, especially if they have somewhere they need to go in the morning. Please reference the third paragraph of my previous post.

No offense to Goldin Auctions - they appear to be one of the best around - or any other auction house that ends the entire auction at one time, but I find myself spending most of my limited funds with those auction houses that end on a "lot-by-lot" basis. It is a much easier format to deal with and "user friendly" with regards to my bidding habits, it is much less time consuming, and the bidding typically ends at a reasonable hour. And when it comes time to consign, I will most likely deal with those same auction houses assuming that I have built up a trust and comfort level with them.

Mark Hayne
Gridiron Exchange

[G1X]

Ken, auctions with a 15-minute rule like yours make me a passive bidder. Even with a 3 a.m. hard close, I'd remain a passive bidder. By passive bidder, I mean I'll place a bid and go to bed (and assume that when I wake up the next day, I'll have been outbid). I'm looking forward to Heritage's auction this coming Friday because I'm bidding on six lots that close individually. Not only will I know what I've won and lost before bedtime, but I'll be an active bidder. I'll be on my computer, following each lot, bidding appropriately, and changing my strategy as bidding activity progresses. If one lot gets out of my price range, then I'll throw my resources elsewhere and increase my odds of winning other lots.

This isn't just beneficial to me as a bidder, but I believe it can help consignors. Consider this scenario: In your auction, I'd bid $1,000 on six lots and go to bed. All six could sell for $1,100. If I'm actively bidding, I might bail out on four lots when they hit a grand... but, I might spend $1,600 or more on the two lots I ultimately target. So, two bidders stand to earn $500 more each because I was an active bidder able to reallocate my spend. It's fair to ask, "Why not place $1,600 max bids on all six lots, go to bed and take your chances?" Well, if I somehow won all six, that would blow my budget out of the water. By being an active bidder, I can get aggressive on certain lots and stay within my overall budget.

All of this is a long way of agreeing with Mark. A 3 a.m. hard close, to me, is no different than keeping the entire auction open until no lot receives a bid.

Oh my, Jeff, you stated it much better than me. I wish that I had seen your post before I posted a moment ago. You hit the nail on the head, especially with regards to being a passive bidder and the examples you gave. That's my exact same sentiment, and it is something I hear directly from other collectors whenever the subject of auctions is discussed. Well said, indeed!

Mark Hayne
Gridiron Exchange

[nevrdiez34]

Oh, I misunderstood Ken's post, I thought each individual auction would end when 15 minutes expire from the last bid on each lot. And the remaining auction lots would end at 3 AM EST if bidding continued on those lots.

[KGoldin]

Good news is I have time
11 weeks before next auction close and it will be the largest in number of lots and in gross volume in our history
We are accepting consignments NOW
Will toss it around to bidders and Consignors and see if we can come up with a more user friendly close that still maximizes lots for benefit of Consignors.