Christie's Baseball Auction Closing Procedures

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Lots close on an individual basis, pursuant to a 3 minute rule.

Mmmmm. Somehow the world's largest auction house, which does probably more than 8 billion a year in revenue, hasn't gotten the memo that they should keep their entire auction open until 6am to catch the spirited bidding that takes place in the wee hours and nowhere else.

Does anyone think Christie's has less information on how to run an auction to maximize values than your typical baseball memorabilia AH?

Seems pretty simple no?

17. When do lots close?

A countdown clock is displayed for each lot on the lot description page. In order to achieve the best possible results in our online-only sales and to make the bidding process as fair and manageable as possible for all prospective bidders, Christie’s has implemented lot bidding extensions. Where there is bidding activity on a particular lot within 3 minutes (180 seconds) prior to the lot's allocated closing time, there will be a 3 minute bidding extension on that lot until only one bidder remains. These extensions will continue indefinitely until there is no more bidding activity on the lot for a period of 3 minutes (180 seconds) implying that there is no further interest. This extra time is designed to accommodate interested bidders and allow them the time to compete for a lot until their ceiling has been reached. This is also designed to avoid the last-minute rush where bidders log onto Christie’s at the end of the online-only sale in an effort to leave a single winning bid seconds before the sale's closing time. This is called sniping and is considered unfair practice to both buyers and sellers and the lot bidding extension has been designed to avoid this. Please note that the extension of one lot’s closing time does not affect other lots’ closing times; therefore it is possible that lots will close out of numerical lot order.