One of the most irritating things for me is that this was not unforeseeable– it has happened before, even to REA. Yet there is at least the appearance of chaos and no plan on what is happening or how to deal with it. Just throw a bunch of half-assed fixes at the problem and eventually waive the white flag, bumping an already long auction nearly another full day. Sellers benefit–both consignors and AH make more money, and bidders take it in the shorts. Rinse, repeat. We will see it again. If they want to appear truly apologetic, they can reduce their BP and thereby pay a price for this nonsense.
Plenty of good suggestions here–let’s see if they implement any of them going forward. Spread ending times over days, particularly where the subject matter is so diverse. I can appreciate multi-sport collectors, but seriously, why tie up your servers with people bidding on Lou Gehrig and Luka Doncic in the same final minutes. 30 or even 15 minute extended bidding is better than 10. End on Saturday for the working people who need to get up Monday. Explore lot by lot at some point. It just shouldn’t be a recurring problem anymore.
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If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other. - Ulysses S. Grant, military commander, 18th US President.
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