Chatted With Bill Goodwin Today

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by GregMitch34

Called about an invoice, no big deal, but since I had him on phone asked about any possible changes in auction ending rules, given the uproar in some quarters over the end of this week's auctions which came at, what, 6 a.m. in the East? He was very friendly and responsive and talked about pros and cons of various ideas. He said, yes, it has gotten much worse lately so he would like to make change, but to what?

Says he once tried ending the lots separately but it was a "disaster'--many complained. Ending all at a fixed time, say 1 a.m., also draws complaints because people like to jump to other lots if they lose one. And so on. He says though there appears to be little action in the middle of the night a lot of dough gets bid on higher end lots. He ended by asking me for ANY ideas, very open to hearing, so if you want to propose some below, please do. Of course, it's a problem with several auctions, not just his.

Bill Goodwin is running a business -- a business in which he needs to get the most money for his consignors or he loses them -- and loses his business. Why stop the auction when he's bringing in more money for his consignors (and him)? As noted above, it's the BIDDERS' faults who run the auction so late through the night, figuring that they'll hold out as long as possible to bid so that their competition will drop out. Don't blame the auction house for this. We have the right to complain about fraud, not the fact that the AH wants to make more money for its consignors.

PS I was up half the night bidding on one card; had I known the auction would run until 6:45 I would have set my alarm for 6:43; however, that's the chance you have to take if you want the card bad enough. I got the card.

[Gradedcardman]

Jeff,

Well said !!

[Tim Kindler]

I like the action of the last man standing or at least awake. It gives the auction its thrill to me. I hate the idea of an auction ending at say midnight and you hope that your max bid was enough. No offense to any auction company out there or anyone who runs one(Scott, Leon, Bill, Lee, Steve Etc.), but I don't put max bids out there anymore, because I'm cynical and it is hard for me to know who to trust and who not to who might put shill bids in to jack up my prices until my max. I guess I'm trying to say it is better in my opinion to not do max bids for any auction, not just pick and choose. Ending them all at a specific time might add to more shill bidding in my opinion.
Tim

[MMarvelli]

I just really don't understand why the rules have to be changed as they seem to be quite fair for almost all parties concerned...but if everyone is sleep deprived and it is such an issue that it takes five or six pages of possible rule changes so people can get into their jammies at the time they prefer...why not just have the auction close at NOON. Problem solved! Auction will then exhaust itself in time for bed for all. Why is a noon closing not a plausible solution

[Exhibitman]

I prefer it where the lots close individually if there isn't any action on them for a prescribed period of time, probably because the crap I collect seldom has more than one or two bidders anyway so I'd just as soon see it closed. Otherwise, if two or more bidders want to spend all night on an item, let them.

The war by attrition thing works: I partnered with a friend on a lot in a recent auction and we lost it because he fell asleep during the auction and did not place the next bid before it closed...

[Orioles1954]

As a former collector and someone who works in the industry....the 30 minute rule per lot is probably the most popular option. I've never had a complaint from a consignor in the 7 years I've been with the auction house.

[nolemmings]

Close the lots one at a time. There was an auction not long ago that did this--a lot closed every 15 minutes. If you lost out, you still have time to get the next one, and when you know when your favorite lots are going to close, you can focus your attention on those time periods and not sit in front of the computer all night.

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by calvindog

Bill Goodwin is running a business -- a business in which he needs to get the most money for his consignors or he loses them -- and loses his business. Why stop the auction when he's bringing in more money for his consignors (and him)? As noted above, it's the BIDDERS' faults who run the auction so late through the night, figuring that they'll hold out as long as possible to bid so that their competition will drop out. Don't blame the auction house for this. We have the right to complain about fraud, not the fact that the AH wants to make more money for its consignors.

PS I was up half the night bidding on one card; had I known the auction would run until 6:45 I would have set my alarm for 6:43; however, that's the chance you have to take if you want the card bad enough. I got the card.

Yes, well said.

[nolemmings]

I'm not sure the late night model works the best for consignors, although obviously several would disagree. Seems to me that there are many who go to bed and put in their "max", which is fine. But if they knew their max would not hold up, say, because that lot ended earlier, they would have more money to go and bid up other lots. Going to bed and having to put in your "max" on multiple lots forces you to hedge. So those people who choose to go to bed may have spent more if they either stayed up (which they apparently do not want to do) or if the lots ended one by one.

[cfc1909]

Originally Posted by calvindog

Bill Goodwin is running a business -- a business in which he needs to get the most money for his consignors or he loses them -- and loses his business. Why stop the auction when he's bringing in more money for his consignors (and him)? As noted above, it's the BIDDERS' faults who run the auction so late through the night, figuring that they'll hold out as long as possible to bid so that their competition will drop out. Don't blame the auction house for this. We have the right to complain about fraud, not the fact that the AH wants to make more money for its consignors.

PS I was up half the night bidding on one card; had I known the auction would run until 6:45 I would have set my alarm for 6:43; however, that's the chance you have to take if you want the card bad enough. I got the card.

This is the correct answer. Any other situation will cause much more complaints then there already are.