Auction Houses and blind bidding

[honus94566]

Paul, no offense, but can I ask you why your username is "bubblebathgirl"? Just curious.

Also, FWIW, I won an auction on goodwin the other night and my max bid was 1 notch nigher than I won the item for. So, the auction house could have "behind my back" looked at my max bid and bumped the price up to that level, but they did not do that. I agree with what the others have said - the main, larger auction houses in the hobby have a limited customer base, and need to be really really careful. One public mess up and it could do big damage to their reputation.

Originally Posted by honus94566

Paul, no offense, but can I ask you why your username is "bubblebathgirl"? Just curious.

Also, FWIW, I won an auction on goodwin the other night and my max bid was 1 notch nigher than I won the item for. So, the auction house could have "behind my back" looked at my max bid and bumped the price up to that level, but they did not do that. I agree with what the others have said - the main, larger auction houses in the hobby have a limited customer base, and need to be really really careful. One public mess up and it could do big damage to their reputation.

To be clear I'm not necessarily saying the proprietors are shilling the bids (though that's been known to happen) but rather those who consign to them. The same definitely happens on ebay, and in a CU thread a member was exposed for shilling his own auction that was consigned to a well know ebay seller.

But at least on ebay there is some evidence, so that's how this person was exposed. Whereas the offbay AHs provide no info on the bidders, and therefore shillers can run rampant if they choose.

[drc]

I think consignors bidding or getting associates/friends/family to bid is a legitimate concern. I don't know what you mean by transparent bidding, but if that means bidders' identities are public I'd be against it. I don't have a plan of my own to offer.