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CU & Superior Auction Sucks

Just wanted to drop in my 2 cents here.

Last night Superior lost a customer. This really pissed me off, and wanted to voice my displeasure. I am sure some of the sellers should be angry with this as well, but then a lot of things did bring nice prices.

Anyway, last night around 11:55 or so, I called in to try and make my last bids of the evening and try to win the cards I wanted to. Well, the phone rang and rang and rang. Finally it picked up and I got an automated response saying all reps are busy now, please hold. So I waited, and waited and waited. Finally, some little squirelly woman got on the phone and said I am sorry the auction is closed. This really pissed me off. I was on hold for the longest time waiting for someone to pick up and then when I did get someone they told me I could not bid. THAT IS BULL$HIT!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did end up winning one auction, but I a seriously think about sending it back when paid for. I seriously think superior lost a customer, the way I was handled last night.

If the auction were to be over, they should have shut off the phone and let the last few people that got thru place their bids then turn the phones off. I think this auction was run VERY BADLY.

Just my 2 cents.

Comments

  • dudedude Posts: 1,454 ✭✭
    robr1967,

    I'm sure you called 5 minutes before the auction closed to "snipe" some bids. I don't know how many people Superior has taking calls, but there are easily 200 different bidders on any given auction, and probably way more than that. If even one hundred of them called in the last 5 minutes, it's a safe bet that some will be put on hold. I called in December with 15 minutes remaining and was put on hold for 5 minutes and wanted to bid on 22 items and didn't get all of them in. The woman told me in mid-sentence while I was placing another bid that the auction was over. I was very disappointed.

    I guess the lesson learned is call in 20 minutes before it ends.

    My only suggestion to Superior is to keep the on-line bidding going until closing time. That would probably solve this problem.
  • gaspipe26gaspipe26 Posts: 1,614 ✭✭✭
    Dan,
    I agree, I never understood why they stop the internet bidding at 7.

    Bob
  • mikeschmidtmikeschmidt Posts: 5,756 ✭✭✭
    The other alternative is to have those 10-minute auction rules that I believe ScP and I know Mastro employ. The problem with those auctions is that they typically can go to 5 or 6 o'clock in the morning -- which I know certainly disrupts my schedule, my wife, etc.

    I think each strategy/system has its benefits and flaws. I do think that calling close to an auction end presents itself with some unusual circumstances, often making it difficult to get through. There is one minor auction company I know where I could not get a line through for the final 10 minutes of the auction, and by the time I did not get a busy signal, the auction was since over.

    All that being said, I believe that Superior and Chris Porter run a very tight business and have an overall successful business model. I think the bidding near the end is too chaotic to allow Internet bidding right up until the end of the auction -- and I think if you really want something, you need to put in an aggressive bid before five minutes until the auction close.

    I would guess, too, that certain customers may get preference/dedicate phone service, but those customers are probably the type that typically win in the high-five to six-figure dollars per auction. I think it is obvious, for example, that there was probably a bidding war up until the end for 1949 Bowman #148...
    I am actively buying MIKE SCHMIDT gem mint baseball cards. Also looking for any 19th century cabinets of Philadephia Nationals. Please PM with additional details.
  • aconteaconte Posts: 2,053 ✭✭✭
    I actually think Superior Auctions are one of the best. I think their catalog is great. The people who
    answer the phones are nice and those reviewing the lots are patient and detail oriented.
    I've been very happy with the level of service to date. The items I have won were clean and
    accurately described.

    I can understand your frustration but I would think of it as a learning experience and follow
    dude's advice.

    Hang in there!

    aconte

  • aconteaconte Posts: 2,053 ✭✭✭
    MS,

    The 10 minute rule sucks!

    aconte
  • gemintgemint Posts: 6,066 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I agree. Why not make things simple and let people bid on the internet up to the last minute? Why make people call in by phone? I see no upside with that method and only unhappy customers. Nobody seems to complain about eBay's auction setup. Maybe the other auction houses are trying to avoid being viewed as another eBay and they want to do something different. I didn't try to snipe anything in this auction but I can see where the frustration could occur.
  • Quite Honestly I really detest these rules where you can bid after the initial auction closes ... When the auction is over it should be over ... What else is top all bids for? This would take the phone problem away almost completely ...
    Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... it's about learning to dance in the rain.
  • 19541954 Posts: 2,866 ✭✭✭
    I hear what you are saying robr1967. This has happened to me twice in the past year as well. Superior auctions provides a wonderful variety for every collector. I think they are honest. I can tell you that I would never consign one item to them because of this very reason. I know some of the very largest collectors out there and they feel the same way. Chris Porter knows that this is a problem. Until they resolve it, they will always be second best. It is a wonderful opportunity to buy nice cards, it is a horrible opportunity to sell nice cards. In the future, bid accordingly.


    1954

    Looking for high grade rookie cards and unopened boxes/cases
  • dudedude Posts: 1,454 ✭✭
    Great points by everyone. If they had the on-line bidding until closing, they would have gotten more bids from "robr1967" and probably others who were put on hold until the auction was over. Superior really should consider this: it's more business for them.
  • I agree

    The 10 minute rule is insane in this day and age. With 90%++ of the bidders online, this rule is Krap. That applies to ALL the auction houses, not just CU.

    When an auction ends at 7.00PM, then 7 it is, not when the last insomniac finally feels that he can make his move. Bid your max and move on, win or lose, not this nickle and dime game.

    Given a choice, I wouldn't give ANY of them my business.
    THE FLOGGINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES
  • dudedude Posts: 1,454 ✭✭
    I agree with Zardoz that the 10 minute rule is a joke. Besides eBay, Superior is the only other major auction that I actively participate in. The other major auctions have the 10 minute rule, don't take returns on high ticket items, and don't take plastic. Some of the nicest cards in my collection came from Superior. They just need to fix this one problem.
  • mikeschmidtmikeschmidt Posts: 5,756 ✭✭✭
    <<Why not make things simple and let people bid on the internet up to the last minute? Why make people call in by phone? >>


    From a logistics perspective, I imagine that close to the end of an auction, it is chaotic enough trying to make sure two people on the phone aren't taking the next bid on a single card. You throw in Internet bidding, and I can envision a situation whereby four or five people are all trying to bid the same amount on the same card with less than 5 minutes remaining in the auction. Trying to determine who bid what and exactly when thus becomes problematic.

    Not sure what the solution is -- I just think it might take significant software, etc. available to truly allow Internet bidding to go up until the end, and I'm not sure if that is realistic from the auctioneer's point of view.
    I am actively buying MIKE SCHMIDT gem mint baseball cards. Also looking for any 19th century cabinets of Philadephia Nationals. Please PM with additional details.
  • GATOR5GATOR5 Posts: 654


    MS-Oh how true you are on the software..

    My question is this I dont understand why you must bid by 9
    to continue bidding. I was very disappointed that I could not
    keep going this was the first time I was really going to make
    dent in my wallet only to be denied. My own problem for not
    being with it. But to be honest I couldn't believe how cheap
    some of the things went for.

  • acowaacowa Posts: 945 ✭✭
    Paul,

    <Given a choice, I wouldn't give ANY of them my business.>

    I didn't see any GAI cards in Superior's auctions...so you're not missing much.


    Regards,


    Alan
  • Considering my lack of anything resembling a normal schedule, I'm one of those people who stays up until 5AM EST for auctions I have interest in. One simple reason - I don't trust ANYONE with my true max bid.

    Having said that - why isn't there a call in the hobby for live auctions? So many positives:

    1) You have CLOSURE after each lot. I don't have to worry about someone coming along and bumping my bid four hours later, or any other nonsense. Everyone knows when the auctioneer says "going once" that they either need to raise their hand or keep their mouth shut.

    2) It's doesn't apply to me so much, but how many times have a heard people complain "I wanted to bid on 10 different items, but I was afraid of winning too many." Here, you know exactly where you stand at all times. You win lot #10, you're done. You don't, you can go after lot #15.

    3) There will be a LOT less games going on with consignors running up the auctions. Look, it's one thing to be sitting there 3 days before and calling a buddy to say "hey, kick this up a notch". Take a lot more marbles to be sitting there in the audience and make an on the spot decision.

    4) Wouldn't it just be more fun? And if you have it in NYC, you'll have celebrities stop by to look at and bid on the interesting items. How "showy" is it for a guy to place a bid by phone, vs. Billy Crystal buying Mantle's MVP award in person?


    I wish it was done more than just Hunt's auction - I think one of the bigger auction companys should really look into it. And you only have bids on one lot at a time, so the technology shouldn't be that great of a need.

    S

    Why do I get the feeling, that some cards are worth money, while others are not?
  • 1420sports1420sports Posts: 3,473 ✭✭✭
    Tony, I agree with both comments - Superior is fantastic and the 10 minute rule does indeed SUCK.

    Bids should be over all at once. EBAY is very successful doing just that.
    collecting various PSA and SGC cards
  • thegemmintmanthegemmintman Posts: 3,101 ✭✭
    Agreed, the 10 minute rule blows.

    Robr1967, you can't snipe or even come close to it with Superior unless you're very lucky with the timing of your call. Try a half hour earlier next time, and you'll be happy.
  • In all fairness to Superior, its instructions (which I don’t have with me at the moment) clearly tell everyone to place bids early because the auction will end PROMPTLY at 9 p.m. PST. That robr1967 waited until five minutes to go was a risky move on his part. I was after a single card, called in with 15 minutes left and immediately got a live person. I won the much-coveted card too, so today I am a happy camper! I’ve participated in a number of Superior auctions; I always call within the last 15 to 20 minutes and have yet to be shut out.

    I believe it’s admirable that Superior doesn’t have the dreadful 10-minute rule that could extend an auction well into the next morning. I won’t participate in those shenanigans.

    “1954” said above that Superior “…is a horrible opportunity to sell nice cards.” That has not been my experience. I consigned many nice vintage cards for this auction and was quite pleased to net well in excess of the aggregate SMR. I’ve done well in the past, too. Also, I do not think they are “second best” as “1954” states. I think they’re the best.
  • aconteaconte Posts: 2,053 ✭✭✭
    Gemmint,

    I knew you would agree. You and I like that last minute power bid. One thing that kills my chances
    of winning a nice lot on Mastro is the 10 minute rule. An east coast guy who has to be at work
    at 7:00 A.M with a decent commute on top of it all has to either stay up all night or put one
    last bid and hope for the best. I put a bid one time at 1:45 A.M. figuring it was in the bag.
    Yeah right... I was more pissed off about staying up so late than losing the lot. Unless someone
    is giving cards away, I don't like to waste time and lose sleep. On the network54 board
    I've read about guys staying up until the morning sun comes up. Not me. This is one reason
    why I don't see me winning much with other auction houses. It almost prevents me from
    bidding or following the auction closely.

    aconte





  • It's all about perspective it appears. Some people are happy with the way the auction goes, more seem to be unhappy. Looks like they have to work out the kinks with that 10 minute rule.
    With everyone wanting to wait till the last second, then getting shut down, unable to bid, I have to wonder, Are there THAT many cards you need so terribly? I'm happy putting in my max bids about 9:30 or so, and if I get anything, great, if not, I move on.
    I know there is paranoia surrounding the running up of bids, but last night I won a killer 55 Bowman Mays PSA 7 for $200.00. My max bid was quite a bit higher.
    Let other people pay out of their arss. ( as Jim Rome says) I don't see what the problem is with bidding early and letting the others pay too much.
    But that's my perspective. I'm an auction scavenger.
    I'm not gonna let a sportscard auction raise my blood pressure.
    I know people are building sets, and they get impatient. But steadfastness is what its about.
    You'll get them eventually. HAve a drinkimage
  • murcerfanmurcerfan Posts: 2,329 ✭✭
    scotty,
    ............... you crack me up.
  • Prior to the auction, knowing I wanted to bid on many items, and I was not going to place top all bids due to problems discussed in a previous post, I talked to Chris about what happens at the end. He told me that the auction ends at 9:00. If you are on hold, you will get shut out. If you are going through several items, you will lose out. So at least I knew the rules going in, which are also clearly stated in the catalogue.

    Thus I called at 8:40, and got right through. The person answering was very competent, fast and pleasant. I called again at 8:55, and got through with about 1 minute wait. At that time, they only allowed 3 lots per call, presumably to let more people in.

    Anyway it is handled has pluses and minuses. I prefer the set end time over the 10 minute rule. If they were able to have a 10 minute rule per item, that would probably be ideal, but I suspect that is hard to do technically. Regarding a live auction, they tried something like that with Ebay last year, and it was a big flop. Since it was silent, it missed the excitement of a true auction. Plus, it takes a lot of time to get through 100 items you have no interest in to get to the one you do.

    I agree taht it would be great if they could incorporate internet bidding into the last 2 hours also, so you wouldn't be dependent on the phone connection.
    Ole Doctor Buck of the Popes of Hell

  • gemintgemint Posts: 6,066 ✭✭✭✭✭
    It seems like they are shutting alot of bidders out which costs them, and the consigner, money. However, based om many of the hammer prices, it looks like the items are still commanding high prices. But who knows how much higher the items could go for with a close of auction system that allows everyone to snipe.
  • WabittwaxWabittwax Posts: 1,984 ✭✭✭
    Some of you seem surprised at the high prices that some things go for even with the last thread about their shill bidding problem. It's not too hard to figure out that some of you are getting screwed.
  • pcpc Posts: 743


    << <i>Some of you seem surprised at the high prices that some things go for...It's not too hard to figure out that some of you are getting screwed. >>



    that's a very {BiG} "fatcat" statement.
    Money is your ticket to freedom.
  • helionauthelionaut Posts: 1,555 ✭✭
    This reminds me of the old-style Teletrade auctions where you had to call in to bid. Eventually I figured the way around the last-minute call crunch was to call about seven or eight minutes before the end and stay on the line checking bids on random auctions till it was time to place a final bid on what I really wanted. Yes, I might have been blocking someone else, but I got blocked out plenty of times, too. The fact is that until the whole world is wired up with real-time video and we have a HAL-9000 24-hour auctioneer, there is no perfect replacement for the genuine auction experience. I'd be in favor of some sort of open-ended online bidding system with some caveats. You have to have placed a bid before the original close, there would be a two-minute extension, not ten minutes, and there would be a definite "last round" of bidding called for before long, maybe a half-hour past original close. I'd think that would allow fairer bidding opportunities for all serious bidders and would maximize returns for the seller and auction house.
    WANTED:
    2005 Origins Old Judge Brown #/20 and Black 1/1s, 2000 Ultimate Victory Gold #/25
    2004 UD Legends Bake McBride autos & parallels, and 1974 Topps #601 PSA 9
    Rare Grady Sizemore parallels, printing plates, autographs

    Nothing on ebay
  • mrc32mrc32 Posts: 604
    I'll stick to ebay...simple and efficient

    Another way to avoid those Mastro and Supieror type auctions is to not collect anything that they offer. Then there is zero reason to bid. image
  • murcerfanmurcerfan Posts: 2,329 ✭✭
    yeah, let's all collect refractors and cut up little pieces of sweaty unwashed uniforms.
    to heck with those evil fascist auction houses
  • 19541954 Posts: 2,866 ✭✭✭
    Superior Auctions presents a very nice arrangement of great pieces, in addition to having wonderful people work the phones during the close of the auction. I trust them when I place a max bid and never have to worry about them running me up to a higher number. My point is this. I will never consign an item to them when I know that there COULD be a chance for that last bidder to throw in another bid at 8:59 and get me more money. I have had two situations where I was on hold at 8:51 and was given the "we are closed" story and a hang up. In those two examples that I was wanting to bid on additional items would have cost me an additional $4000. That is $400 back to the consignors who lost out. I don't want to loose any amount of money when I place it in an auction. I want the full amount just like everyone else out there. That is the sole purpose of an auction like this.

    If you don't like Superiors rules, don't bid or bid earlier and trust that you will be treated fairly.

    1954
    Looking for high grade rookie cards and unopened boxes/cases
  • mikeschmidtmikeschmidt Posts: 5,756 ✭✭✭
    <<I don't want to loose any amount of money when I place it in an auction. I want the full amount just like everyone else out there. That is the sole purpose of an auction like this. >>

    Shane:

    Two points:

    1) I think, generally, Superior has a lower consignment fee than Mastro. Thus, you should be getting more bang for your buck, all else equal.

    2) I think some of us have said before that we are unwilling to wait out Mastro's 10-minute rule on certain auctions. I've spent tons of money with Mastro over the years -- but I also know that I would have spent more in many instances had the timing been more appropriate toward my lifestyle. I work 60+ hours a week sometimes. Living on the East Coast, I can't sacrifice an entire night of sleep calling Mastro every half hour because I am unsure if their auction will end at 2:00 a.m, 5:00 a.m., later, or sometime inbetween. I stay up to an appropriately late time, place my final bids, and hope for the best when I wake up. If I lose out on an auction or two -- often I would have placed one more bid. Not always, but often. But working 60 hour weeks, and having to be in the office by 7:30 am sometimes means that the only way I could "assure" myself of winning is by pulling an all-nighter. As it is -- I have enough trouble convincing my wife about much of the time/money spent in these auctions.

    To each their own! I think each auction format has its own advantages and disadvantages...
    I am actively buying MIKE SCHMIDT gem mint baseball cards. Also looking for any 19th century cabinets of Philadephia Nationals. Please PM with additional details.
  • 19541954 Posts: 2,866 ✭✭✭
    Marc-
    I totally agree with you on both points. It is very nice to know that Superiors' auction is done at 9:00 and what is done is done. I believe Mastro and Superior both offer great/rare cards that others do not. By placing it in Mastros auction allows others to participate beyond the 9:00 deadline.

    1954
    Looking for high grade rookie cards and unopened boxes/cases
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