There are companies that don't use Simple Auction.

Absolutely agree....point being; this isn’t the first time on the same affected sites. Wondering if consignors would take the chance to go to another knowing they haven’t been hit yet. Crap sandwich any way you look at it...and; I’m still trying to bid!!!!

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Goldin and most of the other auction sites are back online. There are still some that I can't get to open

And therein lies the issue. You have no more idea than I do what it costs to switch over from Simple Auctions or what that might entail. Having heard from several of those who are in that situation, based on what I understand, I tend to disagree with you. Why don't you talk to Lee or Al and report back? I suspect you may change your tune if you do that.

If SA really got hacked again then I think SA paid the ransom (again) and their server is up now (at least Goldin is live again)

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It isn't random conjecture. Have you talked to Al or Lee? I suspect not. I will simply say that their views about the matter seem to be completely different than yours. I don't imagine that either of them is very happy about the situation they are in, nor would I be, but switching doesn't appear to be quite as easy as you seem to think it is, at least from their perspective.

Again I'm just a layman here with no real skin or knowledge in this game so I'm probably full of hot air, but here's my most recent thoughts.

I imagine most of SAS's clients are small-time auction houses in the grand scheme of things. Generally, profits and overhead costs are within the means of the auction's proprietor, who may run their auction as a side business/hobby or to eke out a living by themselves or with a close knit team. Not to make an absolute killing with a large salaried staff.

There's a trust that they've built with Bob & SAS, at the end of the day a fellow collector like most of them. It also enables a network of peers they can bounce ideas off of within SAS's framework, both as collectors and auction runners.

SAS is literally called Simple Auction Sites because in a lot of ways it is cut and paste web design, like a Tumblr blog for auction houses. SAS's system allows easy to set up access for small auction houses that don't have a lot of technical knowledge or startup capital to manage a whole individual auction platform.

I imagine despite these technical/ransomware issues, leaving the safety of the 'nest' Bob has built would be overwhelming and perhaps harmful for many small businesses under SAS's portfolio.

That being said, it certainly seems SAS's ability and reach has a limit, as we see in these ongoing technical/ransomware issues that are now affecting millions of dollars worth of business. Maybe there was some naivety about its security, maybe the hackers were just that good at breaking into the code. But it seems SAS was a sitting duck for a long time coming for someone to pull a stunt like this.

It also reflects the size of the clientele. What is a company like Goldin (a few other big ones), holding monthly+ auctions and pushing millions of dollars of artifacts each month, doing still using a platform that peers 20x less the size of them use that we now learn might be easily penetrable? Loyalty to Bob? Maximizing profits?

Once an online auction house gets big enough to hire a dozen staff members, shouldn't they begin to invest in proper in-house IT and web development? They are going to be the ones that attract an audience. If I'm a profiteering hacker and I see a company running monthly 6 figure auctions for 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle cards and high-end Michael Jordan memorabilia, I'd probably try to get a piece of that action too.

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I will simply ask once again if you have talked to Lee, Al, or anyone else on that site to get their perspective. The fact that you can't or won't answer is the answer.

So I owe an apology to Kenny, Lee and Al. Apparently I am losing my mind. I know, and do chat with Lee and Al periodically and could've sworn when the first hack went down I chatted with both. Apparently I remember incorrectly. I want to be clear that they are great guys and my whole point behind my posts was that good companies and people don't deserve to have something like this happen to them.

I HAVE spoken with both of them now, but in the interest of fairness, and again with an apology to Kenny as well, I removed my posts even though they live on in Kenny's quotes.

Why in the world does someone have to talk to Al or Lee to determine whether switching auction providers is cost prohibitive? What might be cost prohibitive to Al might not be to Scott. Or Ken Goldin. or Kenny Cole.

Scott says he has done it, and it wasn't cost prohibitive. Just because Al and Lee say it is, that invalidates Scott's opinion? Having trouble following your logic, Kenny.

You are right in the sense that I couldn't care less who you talk to. It does irritate me that you simply pull stuff out of your ass when you don't know come here from sic 'em about the subject upon which you are opining. And that is rather clearly the case here. In any event, I guess we will just have to agree to disagree. It doesn't make much sense to continue on, because you will remain convinced that you are right and I will remain convinced that you are not. Such is life. Carry on ...

They aren't nearly on the same site, nor do their respective sites even remotely have the same features or functionality. That is a huge difference. And that is why what works for Scott may not come even close to working for Al, Lee, Goldin, or whoever. That is also why I don't think Scott can presume to speak about what works for Al or vice versa. Opinions are only as valid as the information upon which they are based. That is and has been my point.

Yes, the situation is more complex than 90% of people here seem to comprehend. Probably best not to comment unless you have worn the other man's shoes.

As for SAS.... at least this latest outage was the result of taking proactive measures to combat the issue moving forward. Did it take longer than desired? Of course... it sucks. But it's a good bet that these annoying measures will protect against something far worse.

Other servers should probably be doing the exact same right about now, as ransomware attacks have now become the #1 form of international terrorism.

Interesting comments, especially about migrating data from one software provider to another. However, some of the comments indicate that SAS is not used for the larger AH's. Is this truth or conjecture? Also, developing your own proprietary auction (and inventory) systems is not an inexpensive undertaking.

I am old enough to have worked for companies that developed their own accounting, payroll, and inventory systems, but that just is not the way things are done now. I would assume that AH's would pay to use a cloud based (SaaS) inventory application, coupled with auction type software.

Are there larger auction house type software that the biggies are using, other that SAS?

More curious than anything... Thanks.

It’s weird to me the perceived loyalty that members have here to an auction hosting site/AH that has had repeated issues. This isn’t a one or even two or even three time issue.

I don’t know the logistics of a specific solution, but there has to be another way to go.

You have to shoot ducks where they fly.

As a bidder I prefer the nuisance shutdowns to the in-house shill bidding that was prevalent when the auction houses controlled the servers. Lesser of two evils.

As a consignor I wouldn't be thrilled with the stop and go format created by the hacks.

Welcome to the board. Please post your full name since you're making a comment about an auction company.

You may have forgotten (or not known) that many of SAS's auction houses have had the ability to see your max bid. So saying that this way beats in-house software is not correct in this case.

Do they still have that option? That they have to manually turn off seeing Max Bids placed using SAS websites?

Might be a tweener on that one. Not sure he called out a specific company?

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You're the boss. I figured since guys like Heritage still have the ability to outbid you on their platform (rule 21), that his comment wasn't all in the past.

I wouldn't try to nitpick and he didn't call out a company to me.

My thought is always, if someone said that in my direction would I want to know who said it? In this case it's not really in anyone's direction, at least to me. It's a blanket statement. Always appreciate the help though. I need it. :eek:
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Does anyone know if there is a problem again with some auction sites? When I try to load the Goldin Auction web page, I am getting a "Service Unavailable" error.

I was also unable to load the Wheatland Auction, but now both it and Goldin are loading ok so if there was a problem, at least it was brief.

They are in the process of doing more updates to some of the sites, I got a notification last week.

Goldin site loads now but you can’t search or view anything in the auction.

Maybe a goodtime for HA or REA to license their custom website to other AHs. This will add sales history for reference, and add to the database.

Would REA and Heritage rather help out their competitors, or continue to enjoy a significant reliability advantage over them?

Dare I ask? Is SAS down again? Some of the big AHs that use the software appear to have broken links (again).

Tried to access Goldin Auctions and it looks like Simple Auctions is down again

Goldin Auctions is coming up for me now with a message saying that server work is currently being performed.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g3ONwhvT2L.../and%2Bnow.jpg

all sites are down including Simple Auction itself

In related news, Ken Goldin mentioned on Blowout a couple of days ago that he expects to make a major announcement about his hosting service tomorrow.

There is a solution:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...an%20ditto.jpg

Taggart: I got it. I got it.

Hedley Lamarr: You do?

Taggart: We'll work up a "Number 6" on 'em.

Hedley Lamarr: "Number 6"? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that one...

Taggart: Well, that's where we go a-ridin' into town, a whampin' and whompin' every livin' thing that moves within an inch of its life.

https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/...193011723.html
Kevin Durant, Logan Paul, Mark Cuban, More Invest in Goldin Auctions
Goldin Auctions, which specializes in auctioning sports memorabilia and collectibles, has been sold to a group that includes Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant and YouTube personality Logan Paul.

Per Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw, Ken Goldin sold a majority stake in Goldin Auctions to an investment group for $40 million.

Durant and Paul are joined by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, actor Mark Wahlberg and others in buying a stake in the auction site.