BST Live Auctions Section - Suggestions

JollyElm · #1 12-09-2022, 08:29 PM

� Having everything starting at a buck or whatever shouldn't be the case. You should allow the auctioneers to decide the pricing for themselves. The same weekly starting/ending time? I like that a lot.

� If the $1 (or was it 99 cents?) auctions do become the rule, then perhaps hidden reserves should be allowed if auctioneers want them for self-protection. Start the auction at $1, but PM Leon with your hidden reserve amount (I know, he doesn't want MORE PMs). That way, if the reserve is met, no problem. If it falls short, then you have proof of what the pre-auction-determined reserve was.

� The 1950 cutoff is awful, IMHO. The many people here who collect Topps-era cards (1950s - 1970s) should not be grouped in with all of the modern stuff. The most effective way to balance things would be to have three categories: pre-war, post-war Topps-era, and modern/everything else.

Casey2296 · #2 12-09-2022, 09:06 PM

I would suggest a Sunday night end and a Wednesday night end, that way things don't hang around for a week.

Leon · #3 12-09-2022, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casey2296

I would suggest a Sunday night end and a Wednesday night end, that way things don't hang around for a week.

I am unsure about 2 closings but made some tweaks to the few proposed rules in the first post. I don't want to get too deep into rules, because then they need to be enforced. And I don't think I want another section, in addition to the 2 being suggested in the first post...but everything is still on the table. It could be fun over there if done right. But I am not going to manage it a lot or it won't be there

...
.

Casey2296 · #4 12-09-2022, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leon

I am unsure about 2 closings but made some tweaks to the few proposed rules in the first post. I don't want to get too deep into rules, because then they need to be enforced. And I don't think I want another section, in addition to the 2 being suggested in the first post...but everything is still on the table. It could be fun over there if done right. But I am not going to manage it a lot or it won't be there

...
.

Could always try one and if you feel the need can always add another later.

Eric72 · #5 12-10-2022, 01:09 AM

Suggestion for auction categories:

This is a pre-war site, so anything through 1945
1980 was the end of the Topps monopoly. (1946 to 1980)
1981!was the start of an entirely different era. (1981 to present)

carlsonjok · #6 12-10-2022, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JollyElm

� Having everything starting at a buck or whatever shouldn't be the case. You should allow the auctioneers to decide the pricing for themselves. The same weekly starting/ending time? I like that a lot.

� If the $1 (or was it 99 cents?) auctions do become the rule, then perhaps hidden reserves should be allowed if auctioneers want them for self-protection. Start the auction at $1, but PM Leon with your hidden reserve amount (I know, he doesn't want MORE PMs). That way, if the reserve is met, no problem. If it falls short, then you have proof of what the pre-auction-determined reserve was.

I'm not picking on Darren specifically here but using it as a launching off point.

Generally speaking, most of the comments here are about sellers want to set the auction section up to protect themselves on the downside while giving them the added opportunity to potentially get more than if they just listed the card(s) in the regular BST forum. Letting the seller set the opening bid, or a hidden reserve, is driving us back to the old auction format that was being criticized in the previous thread. If they are concerned about not getting enough for what they are trying to sell, then maybe the auction place isn't for them. With regard to sellers fearing that they may be leaving money on the table by listing something in the BST, there are two options: first, they can just go to eBay where there are significantly more eyeballs. Or, they can set their cards up in BST as "high price or OBO." Essentially, a Dutch auction.

As a buyer, I can count the number of transactions I've done here in the last year on one hand and have a couple fingers left over. I accept that no small part of that is because I swim in a shallower end of the hobby pool (post-war, mid-grade, raw) than most members. But, it seems (to me anyways) like the auction section is full of stuff no one wants or things where the starting bid is where the sold eBay comps are at. And the BST seems to be (again to me) full of items that are priced above eBay comps.

Basically, the sellers can't have it both ways. If they want to take a chance to clean up in the auction section, then they should be willing to take the risk in the other direction.

Bigdaddy · #7 12-10-2022, 10:16 AM

Any minimum bid increments? $0.01? $1? or something based on the last price, like eBay. If a high bid did not meet the min increment, then leave it to the seller to either award the underbidder or increase the high bid to the min increment.

Agree with previous comments that if folks don't like the $1 min, then list the card in the BST - you can set your own price there.

The good thing here is that we can try something and if it doesn't work well, Leon can tweak the rules or shut it down.

brass_rat · #8 12-10-2022, 10:49 AM

For items under some amount $X, you could have a hard cutoff. If the bid wasn't above $X already by the deadline, the seller probably wasn't giving up a lot by having the hard ending time.

For items with bids over $X, you could pretty quickly go lot-by-lot in a chat feature (I don't think the one here works, but there are plenty of solutions) and the buyer/seller connect via PM afterwards.

Might be entertaining to try as a one-off.

Leon · #9 12-10-2022, 11:19 AM

The reason this hasn't been tried before is because of the managing of it.

These eventual, Live Auctions, sections have to be almost hands free for me. So the fewer rules ie.. ending, starting, increments etc... the better.

I can see $1.00 increments and still see opening bids of $1.00

I still like ending on one night, maybe one for each section such as Monday and Tuesday, as that will definitely get some eyeballs on stuff. And that is what sellers want. Remember, the sellers bring the buyers.

I am definitely not installing any kind of other s/w to do this. This is for fun, not for an ongoing main business. It's not for higher end items, necessarily.

I already have another Live Auction section set up, right below the current one, and ready to go when we are done discussing (in the next few days).

Again, I am tweaking the top post to what my prevailing thoughts are. Every message posted is being taken into consideration.

And yes, we can always revert back to what is there now, which really isn't working that great, by most (but not all) accounts.

Thanks!!

and another regular BST purchase....

rand1com · #10 12-10-2022, 04:23 PM

Nice one.

JustinD · #11 12-10-2022, 05:17 PM

Couple thoughts-

A. Love the same day end times as easier way to organize.

B. Completely hate extended bidding, and I can’t underline it enough. It’s a PITA to track and for those thinking you will make more, logic says no. Unless a completely new system with a minimum bid amount is created jumping by a set bid amount. Last minute max snipes will far exceed an hour of one dollar increments. If the auction ends at 9 pm and 3 people bid their max at 8:59, the highest max wins and that is the sell price. Far more likely to net sellers more in the long run then little minimum stepped bids.

C. I think all auctions should not end at the same time as it discourages bidding on multiple auctions. There should be a 5 minute gap between auction closings. You may think that extended bidding would help this, no that is not the concern, just another possibility. It has more to do with buyer budgeting. When you know your wins as they complete, you know if it is within a budget to go on. How many of you have dropped out of extended bidding in a traditional auction to know you have the resources to compete on a different lot? I rest my case.

D. Two categories works for me. I am okay with the cliche 1980 date, but I like the mentioned 1970 much better.

Casey2296 · #12 12-10-2022, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leon

The reason this hasn't been tried before is because of the managing of it.

These eventual, Live Auctions, sections have to be almost hands free for me. So the fewer rules ie.. ending, starting, increments etc... the better.

I can see $1.00 increments and still see opening bids of $1.00

I still like ending on one night, maybe one for each section such as Monday and Tuesday, as that will definitely get some eyeballs on stuff. And that is what sellers want. Remember, the sellers bring the buyers.

I am definitely not installing any kind of other s/w to do this. This is for fun, not for an ongoing main business. It's not for higher end items, necessarily.

I already have another Live Auction section set up, right below the current one, and ready to go when we are done discussing (in the next few days).

Again, I am tweaking the top post to what my prevailing thoughts are. Every message posted is being taken into consideration.

And yes, we can always revert back to what is there now, which really isn't working that great, by most (but not all) accounts.

Thanks!!

and another regular BST purchase....

C'mon Leon, I can see the bright lights now, "LL's auction house and Vault Service mega sports empire" headquartered in that lil' ol' Texas town you live in.

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