shady alert: heritage "buy it now" feature questions...

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by begsu1013

which is why i am confused and asking if there is another reasonable explanation before i called...

it had a "buy it now" for "x" price.

it wasn't "send an offer". it literally read "buy it now".

told me i was committing to the "BIN" price and entering into a contract.

how does "buy it now" mean anything else other than i am buying the card at the exact asking price?

short answer: it's heritage. but even then....

Yeah it really does look like a BIN on the website. But hard to blame them for giving the seller an added layer of protection in case he sold the card already, or changed his mind, or the price went up, etc. Probably not like ebay where a seller would constantly monitor his listings.

[begsu1013]

i get that part. (i guess).

but the audacity to ask for more?

and then tell me a miraculous bid came in mere minutes after i hit the "bin"?

and why even call it a "bin"?

this sounds like a seinfield skit...

"and what's with the buy it now feature"

"youre not buying anything"

"and it's not now"

[Jobu]

They also have a "make an offer option" which I guess operates almost exactly like their "buy it now" option. You submit an offer and the seller decides if they want it or not (or they ignore it and leave you in limbo). If there was a higher previous offer it tells you that there is a minimum offer because you have to top the previous offer. I am curious to see what they tell you about the buy it now option and would like you to ask them how it differs from their make an offer option.

[midmo]

I've done the "buy now" thing with Heritage before. I was confused at first (wasn't sure if it went through or not). I also assumed it was immediate as opposed to the "make an offer" button, but it took a few hours before I got an email saying my offer was accepted. Naming it "Buy Now" is misleading for sure.

[Stampsfan]

Originally Posted by begsu1013

i get that part. (i guess).

but the audacity to ask for more?

and then tell me a miraculous bid came in mere minutes after i hit the "bin"?

and why even call it a "bin"?

this sounds like a seinfield skit...

"and what's with the buy it now feature"

"youre not buying anything"

"and it's not now"

Love it!!! Sounds like...

"Is there a 'SIN' in 'Sell It Now'?"

"And why is there no obligation on the 'Sell It Now'? It's really 'Sell It Whenever I Friggin' Feel Like It' (SIWIFFLI)."

This relationship is backwards, as only the buyer is obligated on the Sale. The tail is wagging the dog here, as usually the person with the money is the one in control.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by Stampsfan

Love it!!! Sounds like...

"Is there a 'SIN' in 'Sell It Now'?"

"And why is there no obligation on the 'Sell It Now'? It's really 'Sell It Whenever I Friggin' Feel Like It' (SIWIFFLI)."

This relationship is backwards, as only the buyer is obligated on the Sale. The tail is wagging the dog here, as usually the person with the money is the one in control.

well the power changed when you the new buyer didnt want to be the high bidder in the auction...it not like they didnt have a chance to buy it before..

i guess the button means 'attempt to buy it'....

[begsu1013]

a.l.t.s.h.b.s.

[AustinMike]

Originally Posted by begsu1013

i get that part. (i guess).

but the audacity to ask for more?

and then tell me a miraculous bid came in mere minutes after i hit the "bin"?

and why even call it a "bin"?

this sounds like a seinfield skit...

"and what's with the buy it now feature"

"youre not buying anything"

"and it's not now"

It sounds to me like it's "a buy it now if nobody else is interested or a head-to-head auction if someone else is interested."

In other words, the seller puts the item out there at the lowest price they want for it. Buyer 1 sees it and hits the "BIN" button. The seller waits to respond and before he has to respond, Buyer 2 comes along and hits the "BIN" button. A message now goes out to both "buyers" that someone else is interested and asks for the maximum each buyer is willing to pay. Whoever is willing to pay the most gets the item at that higher price. I would assume if no interested buyer submits a higher price that it would go to the first "BIN" buyer at the "BIN" price. But in any case, I agree with you, it's not a BIN.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by AustinMike

It sounds to me like it's "a buy it now if nobody else is interested or a head-to-head auction if someone else is interested."

In other words, the seller puts the item out there at the lowest price they want for it. Buyer 1 sees it and hits the "BIN" button. The seller waits to respond and before he has to respond, Buyer 2 comes along and hits the "BIN" button. A message now goes out to both "buyers" that someone else is interested and asks for the maximum each buyer is willing to pay. Whoever is willing to pay the most gets the item at that higher price. I would assume if no interested buyer submits a higher price that it would go to the first "BIN" buyer at the "BIN" price. But in any case, I agree with you, it's not a BIN.

i believe the buyer is shown the amounts that were offered in the past as well. Thats better than outside heritage where theres always a local guy seemingly thats going to the house of the seller to make an offer if you dont close a deal with him or some other guy thats making an offer but they wont tell you the amount

[Den*nis O*Brien]

Originally Posted by begsu1013

i get that part. (i guess).

but the audacity to ask for more?

and then tell me a miraculous bid came in mere minutes after i hit the "bin"?

and why even call it a "bin"?

this sounds like a seinfield skit...

"and what's with the buy it now feature"

"youre not buying anything"

"and it's not now"

"The problem is you know how to TAKE the reservation BUT you don't know how to HOLD the reservation" sez Jerry. In light of recent hobby revelations it is astounding that a AH would engage in this type of behavior.

[Stonepony]

It's astounding an AH admits to the right to bid in its own auctions...and gets a pass from most of us.

[earlywynnfan]

Originally Posted by Stonepony

It's astounding an AH admits to the right to bid in its own auctions...and gets a pass from most of us.

+1000!!! I wonder how many who are hammering away at Goldin and others on the Mastro thread bid in last weekend's Heritage Platinum whatever??

[Mdmtx]

I didn't bid. On principal I would not buy a 100k card. And cause I don't have that kind of green. Lol

[begsu1013]

Originally Posted by Stonepony

It's astounding an AH admits to the right to bid in its own auctions...and gets a pass from most of us.

kinda on the fence about this one actually...

it is allowable by law, but i wont bid on any of their auctions now knowing i'm at a 20%, sorry 19.5%, disadvantage right outta the gate.

i don't necessarily think bad of them because they are acting in accordance w/ state and local law even though it was "fine print" and probably the sole reason they are headquarted in tx. similar to golf and using the rules to your advantage. are you really gonna hit the ball off the actual cart path?

would, however, like to know who receives the actual 20% buyers premium...that's a very crucial and key component to the argument on this one.

firmly believe if heritage ends up winning it themselves, then it should have to be paid and it should go to the consigner.

wishful thinking, i know.

[jhs5120]

Virtually every large auction house allows employees to place bids in house lots. I know I can.

[ValKehl]

Originally Posted by Stonepony

It's astounding an AH admits to the right to bid in its own auctions...and gets a pass from most of us.

I wonder how many of these Heritage BINs and Make-an-Offers are actually owned by Heritage or its employees.
Val Kehl

[begsu1013]

and as of today,

still no response (phone or email) from heritage about the "bin" card that I committed to.

[begsu1013]

for what it's worth...

did get a call back from an individual who headed the department which is in charge of these "buy it now" listings.

basically said the prices listed by owners are not really monitored or kept up w/ internally and that the seller is in no way obligated to honor the "bin" price they have set .

and while the card was listed for months, he agreed that this was a very strange occurrence w/ another bid coming in a mere 3 minutes after i hit the buy it now*

that he has never seen anything like that transpire since he has been there.

and that the terminology and most of the process needs to be reexamined and will most likely be changed in the near future.

*and for the record, he did indicate that the card did, indeed, sell to another client for $100 more than what the buy it now was listed for.


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considering the other consignment snafu / mexico operation crap....heritage never had this card either. what is to stop these guys from purchasing a high end card from heritage, get it shipped to 'feiters, duplicate the holder/flip, relist the fake w/ the "bin" feature, send whoever the fake card. they'd get to register it no problem and probably would never think twice...counterfeiters simply wait a lil while and then sell off the real card...

basically selling or even listing an item that isn't in your possession simply leaves too much on the table to go wrong, imo.

if heritage is reading and i think they are, i would reexamine this process as well...

[earlywynnfan]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Yeah it really does look like a BIN on the website. But hard to blame them for giving the seller an added layer of protection in case he sold the card already, or changed his mind, or the price went up, etc. Probably not like ebay where a seller would constantly monitor his listings.

I DO blame them for "adding a layer of protection." If it sells, it shows "sold." If the seller wants to up the price, the price gets upped. If the site shows it's for sale at a certain price, then that's the price it should sell for. It's not like Heritage has a crappy, 2002 website like Hunt's.