[carlsonjok]

A request and a rant:

Request: If someone here ends up winning the lot of 42 signed 1961 Fleer cards in tonight's Clean Sweep auction, PM me if you have any interest in selling those that you don't need. I needed about 20 of them and had been marshalling my funds to bid.

Rant: I will state up front that I swim in the shallow end of the hobby pool. But, I have participated in enough auctions that I thought I understood how they work. Get your initial bid in prior to the start of extended bidding. Once extended bidding commences, auction rules may vary, but generally lots close after a period of inactivity (either lot-by-lot or on the auction as a whole.)

Not Clean Sweep, which has VIP bidding. You don't need to get your initial bid in before extended bidding begins. You need to get that initial bid in 3 hours before extended bidding begins. So, when I logged in about 45 minutes before the timer on the lot says it closes, I am completely shut out of bidding. Maybe I should have read closer, but I've really never seen anything like this before. I don't get the point of having two different bidding deadlines. Can someone explain this to me like you would explain it to an idiot (because apparently that is exactly what I am.)

Postscript: I see that there are a few I need in the upcoming Collectors Connection (née Birmingham) auction. I guess I'll go read their rules a lot more closely.