Conducting auctions on the B/S/T

[Adam]

In a recent "auction style" posting on the B/S/T, a member wrote: "If you're complaining about the auction style, or auctions in general, please do it somewhere else, on the main board. I don't mind the bashing, but it isn't fair to interfere with the auction. Thanks."

Accordingly, I am posting my concerns here as follows --

I, like many, have noticed the increased popularity of "auctions" on the B/S/T. One very significant consequence of these auctions is the large number of replies necessary to sell something (or, if a "dutch auction," the significant number of posts required by a seller if the starting price is high). Recently, for example, it took approximately 14 replies to sell a single T206 common.

For those who sell on the B/S/T, you are no doubt aware that each reply to a listing represents a "bump to the top," or, more importantly for our purposes, a "bump to the bottom" for the listings of all other sellers (most notably those utilizing the long-standing B/S/T fixed price format).

So my question is where on the forum do these new "auctions" belong??

Fortunately, there is already an existing section of the B/S/T appropriately titled: "Ebay/Vintage Card Auctions VBC Forum B/S/T." (To find this section, simply click on the "Buy/Sell/Trade Section" icon at the top.)

I propose this existing, appropriately named section is where all auctions belong. To conduct auctions in any other section of the B/S/T is acting to the detriment of other sellers.

Thoughts?

[sgbernard]

I'll bump your thread. I couldn't agree more. There's I think an informal rule of not bumping a post on the first page of the BST, and the auctions are playing havoc with that. I think the auctions are a good thing generally and should definitely continue, but I'm constantly seeing them as the most recent post on the BST and thinking nothing new has been put up for sale. I think putting them in the already existing separate category and leaving the original categories for sales would be appropriate.

[Edited]: it does appear that the already existing category is for announcing auctions elsewhere, so maybe there should be a new category created for Net54 auctions.

[Matt]

Good points.
One other alternative to consider is to have people email or PM their bids to the seller and have the seller just edit the OP with the new bids instead of adding posts to the thread. That way it wouldn't get bumped either.

[Rob D.]

Adam makes valid points. And for the record, there was no "bashing" (at least on the board).

[FrankWakefield]

Alright.... for the first time ever I've gone to look at the section entitled: "Ebay/Vintage Card Auctions VBC Forum B/S/T."

Anything posted in the last week has been for stuff on eBay, I didn't look more than a week back. I don't think that's the place for me to auction a T206 card. That would be a place for me to hype an eBay auction of mine.

I've listed a second one. And it may well be the last one I list since doing it seems to upset some folks. When I do list it, my plan is to sell it to the high bidder... and that is SELLING. I assure you that the card of Wabash George Mullin was deserving of multiple bumps to the top as folks bid, and that that card is now just as SOLD as it would have been if I'd have sold it for $20 postpaid to start with. George Mullin was a bartender back home in Wabash, Indiana in his later days. That should make his card deserving of attention.

I do see the sense of what was said about an auctioned card listing having the bids sent via email with the seller 'editing' his original post to continually display the auction price... but there are problems with that. The thread would have no more posts and sink like a stone. If the seller had a life and was therefore unable to constantly update bids on the site then bidders would be frustrated, not knowing where the bidding was.

Maybe a solution would be to have a separate Net54 auction thread for each of the extant BST catagories... I don't see jamming what I did into that eBay thread as fair.

So I've listed a decent looking T206 of Frank Isbell (did you know he played infield, outfield, and pitched in the majors?), and the concern and posts that have been expressed have convinced me not to try another auction anytime soon. I'm sorry you guys have been inconvenienced by it. One way to make the Isbell aucton go away quickly would be for one of you to bid about $50 for it, more than I think it's worth, that way there would be no more bids and it would sink like a rock.

Frank W.

[jmk59]

I agree with everybody here.

It's probably not good to have a lot of auctions in the selling threads because of the auctions will get many more natural bumps than the sell threads. They didn't really bother me, but if it got to be more than a handful, it might be too much.

It's also probably not good to try to jam them into the ebay area - the ebay threads will get bumped down, plus that will create a bit of a mishmash of dissimilar threads. The area has "Vintage Card Auctions" in the title because it was created as a place to publicize these auctions, not to conduct them. Just having the words in the name doesn't make it the proper place.

I think a new area would be a neat thing to try. Clearly there is an interest and a few successful tries already. A new area for auction formats could become a vibrant addition to the BST. Let the creativity play itself out.

But something should happen soon. While I agree with the concerns, the fact that the debate has been brought to the board will kill this format and this idea within the next few days. Frank has already said he is done because of the debate, and I'm not sure anyone else will feel comfortable starting an auction over there now since the concerns have been brought up and discussed.

We should give the idea and approach a good clear shot before the momentum is gone for good.

J

[FrankWakefield]

The first auction of the Mullins card lasted less than 59 hours.

The second auction will last about 37 hours.


Neither were 7 day auctions. To the extent that they detracted to normal BST activity, it would be only one thread that dropped to the second page, the auction would take up only one slot no matter how many times it was bumped. And they have very short lives....

I tried the first one to see if it would work, just to have something to do, and to a lesser extent to avoid eBay fees. Realistically auctioning here results in much less exposure, with no financial cost.

Thank you Leon for hosting a site for my first and second auctions.

[rdixon1208]

I love the auction idea. I also have a card or two in mind that I would like to try to auction. Obviously, I'll wait until all of this gets worked out.

So if there's any way to make it happen, I think it would be very, very cool to have a new section only for auctions.

[shammus]

The auction category would also serve as a nice alternative to Ebay since nobody is particularly thrilled with them any longer

I do think they need their own space though so they'll stand out better that way for everybody.

[Leon]

I almost have my mind made up to do this...however, if there is only 1 category for auctions won't there be too many to have it be effective for everyone? Can you imagine 30 auctions going at once, in one single type category? I am thinking of making the test category be the auction category.....for our Net54 auctions....the other auction category for ebay and other auctions (below) will stay the same....

[barrysloate]

Having 30 auctions going at once would be easily manageable. Prospective bidders could scroll through them in a couple of minutes and decide if there are any lots they wish to bid on.

What could get confusing is if those 30 lots had 30 different sets of rules. Do we need to set some guidelines on how these auctions should be run?

[iggyman]

I would be willing to act as a shill bidder for a small fee. This will solve the current dilemma we are having with auctions selling too low. My main qualification is the few lots I won over the years in the Mastro auctions.

Lovely Day...

FYI: Of course, I am just kidding!