Heritage Auctions - Boston Garters

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

It's not Snow you're correct. This is so silly I hope he makes peace with it and moves on he obviously has the money..... just be happy with your collection you have. Geez it's just cards.

Why is it silly? Powell clearly got screwed from a fairness standpoint and it is something that means a lot to him.

[Johnny630]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Why is it silly? Powell clearly got screwed from a fairness standpoint and it is something that means a lot to him.

Didn't receive an invoice, I would not send without so.

[Powell]

Thank you Peter. I don’t appreciate being called a “sore loser.” I have lost thousands of lots over the years with no complaint. I believe I won legitimately and I don’t think anyone thinks it was fair to close the set lot if I didn’t win and the battle “wasn’t over” even though I believe it was.

[rand1com]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Why is it silly? Powell clearly got screwed from a fairness standpoint and it is something that means a lot to him.

I agree he got screwed but if I was looking to spend $750,000 on something I really, really wanted, I think in the 3 weeks before the end of the auction I would have called my contact at Heritage and questioned how the auction worked and that I wanted a call if my set bid was beaten so I would have a chance to bid again before the auction closed rather than counting on a formatted auction to take care of me.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by rand1com

I agree he got screwed but if I was looking to spend $750,000 on something I really, really wanted, I think in the 3 weeks before the end of the auction I would have called my contact at Heritage and questioned how the auction worked and that I wanted a call if my set bid was beaten so I would have a chance to bid again before the auction closed rather than counting on a formatted auction to take care of me.

Sounds like hindsight. Seems reasonable to assume the biggest auction house on earth would set it up right.

[Powell]

I have bought in auctions for 20 years. I have never called in advance. I trust the website.

[rand1com]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Sounds like hindsight. Seems reasonable to assume the biggest auction house on earth would set it up right.

It was reasonable, just not true.

[Mark17]

A couple years ago when several AH were having "glitches" with their sites going down in the final minutes, I was declared the winning bidder on some items, only to be told later that, because some bidders had been unable to get bids in, the auction would resume the next day. Everyone who thought they had won..... hadn't.

Using Powell's analogy, I was the winning bidder. I had the high bid when time for those lots expired, the site declared the lot closed, and declared me the winner.

Later I found out I wasn't. I realize the circumstances (and dollar amount) are different in this case. I'm just saying, it's not the first time an AH has declared winners and later pulled the proverbial rug out from under them.

[tbob]

Originally Posted by Mark17

A couple years ago when several AH were having "glitches" with their sites going down in the final minutes, I was declared the winning bidder on some items, only to be told later that, because some bidders had been unable to get bids in, the auction would resume the next day. Everyone who thought they had won..... hadn't.

Using Powell's analogy, I was the winning bidder. I had the high bid when time for those lots expired, the site declared the lot closed, and declared me the winner.

Later I found out I wasn't. I realize the circumstances (and dollar amount) are different in this case. I'm just saying, it's not the first time an AH has declared winners and later pulled the proverbial rug out from under them.

Mark, I had the same thing happen to me on several lots. I can’t remember which AH it was but I was not a happy camper 😟

[mordecaibrown]

Using this situation as a reference, then Heritage should reopen these lots for bidding.

The set lot that Powell was bidding on closed - he couldn’t enter any more bids (I feel like this keeps getting lost). So, because of a software “glitch” and everyone NOT being able to bid, the lots should be reopened.

I’m also blown away by the “victim blaming” - Powell should have checked to see that the other lots were still open, etc… and done what? Placed a bid in his closed auction item? I don’t think he (or individual winners) did anything wrong - and blame shouldnt be placed with them. Any vitriol towards them is mind boggling.

And yes, it’s just cards, but I can’t comprehend going to bed and assuming you had won a once in a lifetime set and woken up to this mess.

In my opinion, the solution is to reopen the lots and perform the auction as was intended. Individual versus set competing.

Originally Posted by Mark17

A couple years ago when several AH were having "glitches" with their sites going down in the final minutes, I was declared the winning bidder on some items, only to be told later that, because some bidders had been unable to get bids in, the auction would resume the next day. Everyone who thought they had won..... hadn't.

Using Powell's analogy, I was the winning bidder. I had the high bid when time for those lots expired, the site declared the lot closed, and declared me the winner.

Later I found out I wasn't. I realize the circumstances (and dollar amount) are different in this case. I'm just saying, it's not the first time an AH has declared winners and later pulled the proverbial rug out from under them.

[sonnyu2]

Originally Posted by mordecaibrown

Using this situation as a reference, then Heritage should reopen these lots for bidding.

The set lot that Powell was bidding on closed - he couldn’t enter any more bids (I feel like this keeps getting lost). So, because of a software “glitch” and everyone NOT being able to bid, the lots should be reopened.

I’m also blown away by the “victim blaming” - Powell should have checked to see that the other lots were still open, etc… and done what? Placed a bid in his closed auction item? I don’t think he (or individual winners) did anything wrong - and blame shouldnt be placed with them. Any vitriol towards them is mind boggling.

And yes, it’s just cards, but I can’t comprehend going to bed and assuming you had won a once in a lifetime set and woken up to this mess.

In my opinion, the solution is to reopen the lots and perform the auction as was intended. Individual versus set competing.

Correct, Heritage could claim "Technical Issues" with the close of the auction and re-open the auction for those lots if they wanted to. Heritage, as well as most other auction houses, reserve the right to re-open lots, cancel sales, cancel bids, etc for just about any reason.

it would not be the first time by any means that an online auction was re-opened for bidding after "ending" due to technical reasons - it happens more often than most realize.

And just to reiterate, an emailed notice of a winning bid is not a guarantee of actually "winning" the item. Emails / Notices can be sent in error for a number of reasons. Especially with all of the ways to bid these days, clerical errors can and will be made by auction personnel when executing bids. And just about all Auction Terms & Conditions protect the auction house from these "errors". In this case, the bidding system just was not set up properly for that type of auction and sent a winning bid notice in error.

Obviously a frustrating situation for all involved with no real way to make everyone happy, but hopefully a big learning experience for Heritage.

[brunswickreeves]

Originally Posted by mordecaibrown

Using this situation as a reference, then Heritage should reopen these lots for bidding.

The set lot that Powell was bidding on closed - he couldn’t enter any more bids (I feel like this keeps getting lost). So, because of a software “glitch” and everyone NOT being able to bid, the lots should be reopened.

I’m also blown away by the “victim blaming” - Powell should have checked to see that the other lots were still open, etc… and done what? Placed a bid in his closed auction item? I don’t think he (or individual winners) did anything wrong - and blame shouldnt be placed with them. Any vitriol towards them is mind boggling.

And yes, it’s just cards, but I can’t comprehend going to bed and assuming you had won a once in a lifetime set and woken up to this mess.

In my opinion, the solution is to reopen the lots and perform the auction as was intended. Individual versus set competing.

I agree and raised this as an equitable solution under these circumstances early on in this discussion. Nothing can be done to reverse what’s happened in the past. And, choosing a legitimate winner at this point directly screws someone or many someones. Whereas reopening the auction gives everyone a fighting chance and only indirectly screws someone or many someones by virtue of their own underbidding.

Good faith solution is good for business, HA and the consignor make more money, cards go to fully informed and highest bidder.

[slidekellyslide]

Just absolutely astounding negligence from the largest sports auction house in the world. Powel should have been awarded the win, but I'm assuming at this point since invoices went out that cards may be on their way to individual lot winners already.

I think I would have questioned how things were going to go once I realized that you had to add up the individual lots yourself. How annoying would that be if they were doing this same type of setup with 524 T206 cards? Or a complete 1952 Topps set?

[nolemmings]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Sounds like hindsight. Seems reasonable to assume the biggest auction house on earth would set it up right.

Yes and no. Personally, if it were me, I would have looked immediately at the individual lots once my Full set lot closed and declared me the winner. I would not need to tabulate the totals of all 12 cards, but could see that one or more remained open with clocks still running. This would alert me that something was amiss and I would be on the phone at once.

Sounds like the real loser was the consignor, as some pretty meaningful $$$ were left on the table due the bungling manner that this was set up and explained.