Robert Edwards Auctions STILL going strong at 8:15 AM Est!!!!
 

Anyone trying to swoop in and get something!?!??!! HAHAHAHA!! This is unreal!!

Yes I am but can't win a T206 auction to save my life even if I bid 50% more than current high bid. My expectations are therefore very low.

Everything seems to be strong. There is a Duke Snider rookie I am seriously tempted to hit the next bid, as that is the only thing at a remotely fair price on my list.

I went to sleep last night
 

with my hopes dashed of owning a cullivan fireside, and awoke realizing my hopes would be double dashed tonight. Fair is too nice condition of the type for me to own.

got the email

extended bidding starts at 9pm tonight. Starting with 10 minutes per lot. prices are going up. lol

gEEZ

I get that some people are really upset that REA decided to extent the auction until 9pm tonight but I will note that last night, after midnight and the system crashed, that even as other user users here were posting that they had access again at various times and that bids were being placed last night at various times, that for me personally at none of of those times was I able to access the auction at all let along place bids during extended bidding.

Im sure my experience is not unique and that while some people had access to the auction and to very limited extended bidding, other users did not have access to the auction nor access to extended bidding during these times. Maybe as some were sitting on the site, and hitting refresh they lucked into a small window that allowed them to access and bid but I can tell you from my own experience that was not the case for me.

Bidders can make up all kinds of excuses. The bottom line is that there were ample opportunities to bid during the windows that kept opening. So far, items in which there were no bids at any time after the original scheduled Closing are now increasing as a result if the new extension. In my case, it's not that the new bidders were shut out during the 10 minute clock time (though as noted they had windows), no one had bid at all after the initial closing time. It is now costing me, plus the Buyer's Premium. Frankly, REA is insured for loss and, if this is going to be allowed, the Buyer's premium should be waived in my opinion.

Or you can ignore the specifics in my post that detailed that I as a bidder had no opportunity at all to place any bids in any extended bidding session(s). That's the bottom line.

At 12:04 the first comment was posted here on Net54 that the auction site was slow or not responsive for people, this was when I was trying to place bids during the extended time. But I was never able to gain access again to the auction after 12:04 EST, not once, despite several attempts even when users were posting here that they had access and could bid. And I am sure I was not the only one.

Sorry this is costing you, but its obvious that not all bidders had the same opportunities in extended bidding beyond 12:03 EST. If the auction had continued as intended, you cannot possibly make assurances that no one would have placed additional bids on auctions you were winning between 12:04 and 12:10 EST.

It sucks all around to be sure.

It sucks, especially if I end up paying more for or losing the one lot I am still on lol, but under the circumstances they didn't really have much choice IMO. No win situation and make the best of it.

Do we know if the REA site crashed because of a malware attack or was simply overloaded because of the massive number of bidders during extended bidding?

Right, the servers went down just as the 10 minute per lot rule went into effect. So the fair (honest) solution would be for tonight, at 9:00 EST, the auction resumes at that point, with the 10 minute per lot rule in effect. Then you, and everyone who couldn't get their final bids in, would have their chance.

Suppose you're playing hockey and your team is ahead with 10 minutes left in the game. Some clown throws a fish onto the ice and pauses the game. What is the fair (and honest) way to deal with it? Most, if not all of us, would agree, you remove the fish, clean up the ice (in other words, deal with the problem,) and then reset the clock to right before the fish hit the ice. Right? I mean, that's obvious isn't it?

But what REA did is that, plus added an entire additional day to the auction, just to be sure the other team had ample time to score, again and again.

Which benefits them, to the detriment of honesty and fair play.

There is no great solution but the fact is the bidders are going to feel the adverse impact of the outage. Consignors can only do better with guys having a 3rd shot at overtime. REA needs to get this resolved and make sure it never happens again. On the other hand this is such a first world problem. Tells me that life here in the US is pretty good, in spite of it all.

As a consignor, I am glad there is an opportunity for everyone who wants to bid on my lots to get a bid in. As a bidder, I wish that the lot I was winning at 11:59 PM, and which did not receive more bids before 12:10 AM, had closed at that price and I had won it. But also as a bidder, I am glad that the other lots that I was bidding on, which I was not high bidder at 11:59 PM, and which I couldn't get a bid on before 12:10 AM, are still open.

It will cost me more to win these lots...but only if I decide to keep bidding. No one is making me bid. I would not be happy if I had a ceiling bid that kept getting pushed up today. But as someone said, that could have happened last night if the auction ended as intended and everyone had a chance to bid. But in terms of submitting new bids, I don't have to if I don't want to.

REA can do whatever they want, but I don't think waiving the buyer's premium will help. Say you are bidding on a lot at $5K ($6K with premium). They waive the premium, so if you win you pay $5K. But the premium is now waived for everybody....so someone who is willing to go to $6K will just bid the card back up again (knowing they won't have to pay a premium). If anything it will just extend the bidding because now every lot has been reset 16.67% lower (if I did the math correctly).

The other option would have been to start the 10 minute clock at, say 1:00. But that would have been unfair to the people that had to go to sleep.

I do have one suggestion. The entire 9:00-midnight period is useless. There will never be an REA auction where there is no bid on ANY lot for 10 minutes in that time period. It should go straight to a lot-by-lot close at a designated time (and I think 15 or 30 minutes would be better than 10).

Edited to add: I had not thought of Mark's idea of re-starting the auction at where it was when the problems began. I guess now it is too late because so many more bids have come in...but if feasible, that would have been a good option.

Private company - you'll only know if they decide to tell you.... they're under no obligation to disclose that information.

I just received notice that I was outbid on an item. How is this possible if the auction doesn't open back up until 9 EST tonight? WTF?

I'm still up on the lot I thought I'd won last night, although it's already cost me a few hundred more. This was really a no win situation for REA and any smart AH is going to extend in an event like last night to take care of the consignors. Without quality consignors you have no auction. It sucks as a bidder but it is what it is and REA is still my favorite AH to deal with.

My understanding is that is what is planned (from the email sent by REA) -

"As a result of a service interruption last night during the auction closing, the auction is extended and will close tonight, Monday, April 25 at 9 PM EDT. In lieu of extended bidding, the auction will go directly into the 10-minute lot-by-lot closing at 9 PM EDT."

I think the time between last night and 9 pm tonight is useless.

It's open all day today. My max bid got pushed up this morning too. They used the outage as an excuse to add an entire day to the auction instead of just starting from the point where their site crashed.

Nice, huh?

It is open now to all bidders who previously bid. No one can bid on a lot they haven't already bid on but it is open otherwise, per their rules.


Mark, I can guarantee you this was not a planned situation. It is a nightmare for auction houses when these things happen.
.

Perhaps they need to stagger the close to two or three nights when it comes to 3500 items? Or make the 10-minute feeding frenzy into 30 minute one?

"Nightmare?" They will profit nicely from this nightmare.

Not saying it was planned, but they sure found a way to take advantage of the situation.

The '39 DiMaggio Play Ball hadn't received a bid since 9pm on 4/22..... until about 10 minutes ago when someone just bid on it.

amazing!

Sorry, to be clear, I meant that their auctions should always close this way, not just the one today because of the outage. You need to get a bid in by a certain time. Then at a certain time, it's all lot-by-lot. There doesn't need to be a period where all lots are open if a bid is placed on any lot.

I have never understood why the 3 hours between 9pm and midnight. After 9pm it should go on a 10 minute close if no bidding on an individual lot within this 10 minute period. Also with this many items, a 2 day auction format would help.

WOW well I guess that's why they say get your bids in early.

I'm biting my tongue so hard on this one.

I have not been here for long but has there ever been a post you have made where you were not whining and complaining? This is a hobby chat board and you are always upset. I hope your life outside of the hobby is ok but does not sound like it based on this post.

You are saying life is great right now. Life isn't great right now. When a grandparent on fixed income is in tears for having to choose between heating their home or putting gas in their car because their bills have gone up so much, then forgive me if I don't agree with your assessment that life is "great" right now.

Cards Please.......

The hardest part for me is I was done bidding set my limits which I said I would not go over. Wake up to find out there is a new day of bidding.
Now I am trying to control my temptations and try and not bid again.

Agreed. He called me a whiner and asked for an explanation. I gave him one. This is a sore subject with me.

Back to cards folks, here's one I wish I would have kept from years ago...

https://www.net54baseball.com/pictur...ictureid=23165

I'm Sorry Robert I do wish you the best and pray for good things to come your way.

As far as I know, the site crashed around 12:05 AM and resumed back to normal around 12:25 AM EST. Why couldn't REA just extended the time from midnight till 12:30 AM EST and then closed the items on their 10 minute rule after that? To extend this auction another full day, is totally unfair for the bidders who followed the regular auction rules. You know who comes out ahead here by doing what REA did? True, it is REA's auction and they can do what they want, but do you think this is fair to the high bidders who bid as high as they can go for the item they bid on? For a professional auction house that REA runs, this was handled in an unfair manner.

They tried to do that but the ten minute clocks were not working they kept resetting even with no bids on the lot..

Everything on my list is pretty stout right now. Tack on the 20% and it is stratospheric. I wonder if they will do free shipping this year?

I surely did not ask for an explanation but I knew we would hear one. Anyway, again this is a hobby chat board. Everyone here is lucky to be able to be upset that a multi million dollar auction is delayed 24 hours and that we get to chat it up over vintage cardboard. That you need to focus on negative stuff all the time seems like a lot of effort. I hope you find some peace at some point. And I am being serious.

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.

Ok, gotcha. I see I misinterpreted what you wrote. And for the record, I agree with you.

I agree 100%. What I found especially odd is that, on one lot in particular, I had the high bid for the entirely of the extended time and half of the ten-minute extension. The moment they went back online again, the high bid showing was 20% higher than my previous high bid. How did that happen?

I'm tempted to bid some more, but the whole situation has given me second thoughts.

Just curious. Has anyone today had internet connectivity issues and-not necessarily meaning this is connected to REA-previously bidding in the auction?

I've noticed no change since the day began...no difference in my consignments...no difference in my bids...although i was outbid on some items overnight.

If these repeated breakdowns were negatively affecting the bottom line of auction houses you can bet the problem would have been fixed already. This is a win win for everyone involved in the transaction except losing bidders.

Once an item I was up on and the system crashed, once up again I was not ahead anymore. Nice card but not worth 50% over VCP.

and winning bidders in many cases

Internet has been fine for me all day but numerous times now, including just moments ago, after logging into eBay and looking at cards in my watch list, when I hit the back button, it re-asks me to type in my password.

I've tried the CDN and U.S. versions as well as through Leon's links above.
Each and every time I get the same thing? :confused:

Unlikely it is connected to the REA problem but just thought I'd throw that out there.

Almost seems like REA has frozen time until 9PM tonight; then the gates opens . . .

Yeah I'm sure they're thrilled when it happens.

LOL that was funny.

I think people vastly overestimate the "advantage" a situation like this brings to the auction company. For every person who decides to throw a few bids they might not have (which really doesn't make much sense) there are several who might have still been interested in bidding yesterday who are pissed and won't bid today.

But let's spitball and make up a number. Let's say this adds something crazy like $250k in bids that they WOULDN'T have gotten yesterday. That would likely add about $62,500 to REA's bottom line. Does anyone REALLY think this hassle, bad publicity, pissed off buyers AND consignors (consignors like things to go as planned, period) and aggravation is worth $62,500 to REA?

But there's no reason to believe that that same person wouldn't have bid in extended bidding last night if the site had been running properly. It's not proof of any difference. I don't know why the assumption is that with a faulty ending suddenly people will be willing to pay more that they would have if things had run properly. It's a logical leap I'm not willing to make.

Same flawed logic I've seen used to justify keeping an auction open until 6AM. But we got lots of bids from 5 to 6!!

The auction should be shut down at 9pm period. People have had all day to come up with a bid. This doesn't make any sense to me. Frank

Yep! looks like someone pulled the plug

Financially speaking, they’re probably not too upset, and not scrambling to pay a ton of money to fix the issue. Short term this has increased profit. Long term probably doesn’t have much of an effect. I’m sure they didn’t want it to happen but they’re probably not crying either.

I am not saying the entire "situation" is an advantage to the AH. What I am saying is, to use your numbers:

1. Server crashed. Accident that is a bummer for everyone.
2. Auction SHOULD resume the next evening from the point where it crashed, in other words, as lots are going into individual 10 minute rule.
3. REA instead opens up the auction all day today and puts that estimated $62,500 in their pocket, and lots of smiles on the faces of their consigners.

So, in your scenario, my issue is with that marginal $62.5k garnered by adding another day to the auction needlessly.

To be clear, I honestly believe REA would've rather had the servers stay up and things work as expected. But when they didn't, there was no valid excuse to pad the bidding time by an extra day.

And I bet the number is a lot less that $250k. Most of the bids coming in today are ones that would have been made last night if the system didn’t have issues. I would trust Brian to hold my wallet, which is something I can say about very few people in the world. I trust he made the best decision for all involved.

Just flat out unacceptable. Personal opinion.

There seemed to be some arguing otherwise. Sounds like we're in agreement though.

I JUST now got outbid on the lot I was winning.
Such fkn bullshit.

This thread is truly gold.

Is it safe to assume you haven't put any bids in today, nor will you?

All of the items that I was winning should have been considered closed.
All of the items that I consigned should remain open as long as it takes to get every possible bid placed and to wring every last possible dollar out of the prospective bidders.
(No I'm not serious)

I haven't. My max bid was pushed to the limit this morning at 7 AM.

I keep thinking about what Peter always says: "Stuff trumps all." I want to be principled and walk away. On the other hand, I really did want to win my item.

In answer to your next question, yes, it's weird having Peter living in my head.

As long as I am there, I urge you to try to win the item you want, I see no great principle involved here, the AH did its best with a shitty turn of events.

They didn’t do it intentionally. Not sure I’m giving a round of applause for that.

My internet & tv were down 3 pm until. 7 pm today xfinity.

Can we all stop complaining please come the next auction people will completely forget about this it’ll be an afterthought. REA is one of the best AH’s out there, things happen, they’re doing the best they can with the outage.

People are getting so bent out of shape there will be more auctions more cards just be patient. Good things will come.

My thoughts
 

1) I wholeheartedly believe this was unintentional. I also agree it is a crappy situation with no possible positive outcome for everyone.
2) I agree with others who have commented that the auction should have been restarted at whatever point (9PM is fine) from where we left off yesterday at the 10 minute closing rather than having an entire day of additional bidding.
3) There is A LOT of psychology to bidding and auctions - the argument that "people will bid what they would have bid" holds no water with me. If someone gets outbid - the more time they have to think about it, the greater likelihood there is that they will place a bid they would not otherwise have placed if not given the time to think. This is certainly not on every item, but will occur on many lots. If this wasn't a factor "sniping" wouldn't exist.
4) The thing that bothers me most was the lack of communication between ~12AM and 1:14AM - The clock was counting down on each lot - I and others were permitted to place bids without clarity on whether the auction would end last night or be pushed till today. I placed bids in that time period thinking there was a chance the auction would close according to the clocks that were counting down. At 1:14 well over an hour after the problem started the email went out saying the auction would be extended. Fairer (imo) would have been to "pause the auction" closer to when the problem began until a decision was made and clearly communicated with everyone.

Avoidable issue. Not the first time it has happened. I think that’s why people are upset.

Again I ask why would you assume that person wouldn't have bid yesterday if everything had been working. Oddly enough a lot of bids normally come in at that time that didn't. The assumption that this is activity that wouldn't have happened otherwise is odd. We don't know one way or the other for sure, but the idea that this added time suddenly made people want to spend more certainly seems to be the opposite reaction to the one almost everyone on Net54 is having.

But do they really care ? I would say no they don’t because you can see above they still want the cards if they have a card that they want they’re going to bid they could care less about what happened last night they want the card. The card trumps all past behavior and past issues are what they are they are, the past, if the card is here now they’re going to bid and they’re going to do what it takes 9x out of 10 to win it. That’s why the complaining is kind of like whatever to me

I'm sure it's mildly embarrassing for 5 minutes.

This whole thread proves beyond a doubt that most of you aren't going to give a shit when this happens in the slightest. Why should they.

Like when McDonalds offers 1975 prices, get overwhelmed with foot traffic, and then call the whole thing off a few hours later. You thing they are embarrassed???? Hahahahahaha.

100 percent.

It would be a riot to lay this thread next to similar threads regarding when the exact same problem happened to Goldin. Just sayin.

Agree completely. This wins my vote for best, most succinct post in this thread.

100 percent.

Saw a lot of comments today about how people are never bidding in REA auctions again. True for now… until REA sends out its next catalogue.

Bada ba ba ba I’m Lovin it !

Hobby memories are short. My guess is not one single person will stop bidding over this. Nor should they IMO.