If a board member asks you to close an auction and sell him/her a coin/coins, what do you do?

Rampage · April 23, 2003 7:12AM

I have a board member asking me to close my auctions and sell the coins. I replied I DO NOT close auctions early, but if I did, the offer would have to be one I could not refuse. Anyway, I asked the person to make an offer and (s)he replied, but with no offer. (S)He wanted me to tell him/her how much I wanted. I started the bids out at $1.00 because I did not know the current market for them.

So, am I right for not closing it early? I assume I am. If a person offered you an enormous amount for a coin that you did not think was worth it, would you close it?

Thanks! Richard.

Dave99B · April 23, 2003 7:15AM

I've been asked several times (not by board members) to end an auction early. But I had already received bids, and I felt it was unethical, so I said "nope".

No bids? Sure.

Bids? Nope.

Dave

paigowjohnny · April 23, 2003 7:16AM

You are 100% in the right. I think the auction folks, whether they be eBay or yahoo or whatever...actually tell you NOT to do it. Especially if other bidders are involved.

Now I've had sellers offer to close an auction for me when I was the only bidder...good for me...but as a seller it's your choice/gamble...and you are right to stay the course.

DCAMFranklin · April 23, 2003 7:31AM

Richard- You've done the right thing. The Member has the same opportunity to win the coin as anyother bidder. If they really want it, then they will get in the line. Good luck!

Fairlaneman · April 23, 2003 7:34AM

I have closed one and sold the coin. It had no bids and had been up for a couple of days. Shortly after closing the auction a Email was received from another person asking why the auction had been closed. He stated that he was going to put a bid in later. The way that bidders go about placing bids sort of puts a seller between a rock and a hard spot. Why dont they just place a bid if they are interested in the coin. BTW the coin went to a person that comes to these boards once in awhile.

If it came down to getting another good offer on a coin with No Bids I would do the same as was done before. A seller puts his coins up to sell, not to sit there and wait for bids.

JMHO.

Ken

sinin1 · April 23, 2003 7:52AM

I have only closed 1 auction that had bids - it was an item sold 45 days before that had not been paid - I told the original buyer if I got the payment before the close, it was his - and he pulled through

what a pain that turned out to be - it was generic silver nothing fancy - melt value

cancelling 7 bids took awhile

In your situation, I would tell the interested party to be the high bidder at the end and then they are their's

If they do not sell (I am not sure if you are starting low, or near value, or 50% value) - then you would be open to reasonable offers.

mact · April 23, 2003 7:57AM

fairlaneman has it right and sinin1 is right, cancelling bids is a real pain.

matt

ClarkOfKent · April 23, 2003 8:27AM

Rampage, I agree with the majority... you should let the auction run it's course.

< Why dont they just place a bid if they are interested in the coin. >

Fairlaneman, Since the auction has a posted closing date & time, bidders should have until that time to place bids... it's not up to the seller to dictate when, from open 'til closing, the bids get placed. The seller has already stated the acceptable timeframe for bids when he sets the length of the auction.

copperhead · April 23, 2003 8:31AM

I agree with Dave on this one.
No bids - OK
Bids - not OK

DCAMFranklin · April 23, 2003 8:32AM

Richard- How about a link?

ARCO · April 23, 2003 8:33AM

Not unless it was Dave99.

I think it is unfair to ask another to close down an auction unless your willing to pay fat money for the coin, and if I were willing to pay big I would just snipe the auction with a huge bid to win at all costs.

"make me an offer". Hey buddy that is why it is up on auction so that the true market price can be realized and I can get top dollar and not leave any on the table. "Just bid on it and if you lose then you weren't willing to pay what I was asking"!

Tyler

fcloud · April 23, 2003 8:33AM

For some reason many people snipe. And there are probably a group watching the coin now, and it is an auction isn't it? Let it run its course, and if the person really wants it they will bid high enough to get the coin.

Rampage · April 23, 2003 8:48AM

DACAM.....

Here is a link to all three of them. It was all I listed this week. I also had three for sale on my sale list on the BST board, but these in the auction are far more dramatic. What do you all think of them?

MY 3 AUCTIONS

Richard.

Rampage · April 23, 2003 8:53AM

By the way.......I am not trying to start a flame war. Just wanted opinions before I did something unethical. I do appreciate all the opinions out there. All three auctions will be running their courses. One ends tomorrow and the other two end on Saturday.

copperhead · April 23, 2003 8:58AM

Toned Modern coins are not my cup of tea. None the less they are very attractive coins, and should sell quite well for you. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!

coindaughter · April 23, 2003 9:02AM

I agree with everyone else. Let them run their course. Good luck on your auctions!

Fairlaneman · April 23, 2003 10:14AM

And Clark the seller has no rights either ? When I hold off and a auction gets closed for one reason or another I just kick myself in the Butt for not bidding. If you want the coin put a token bid in. Then if it gets closed you have room to gripe. Seems damn fair to both the Seller and Buyer to me. Of course some of you guys are way ahead of me on this sort of stuff. So Please just Excuse Me.

Ken

ClarkOfKent · April 23, 2003 10:21AM

Sure, the seller has rights. He/She can close an auction early. This isn't about rights. It's about keeping your word. It's about character. If you offer something for auction and you announce the closing date/time, you should honor it.

ConstellatioCollector · April 23, 2003 10:24AM

I've had the same situation asked of me. I replied to the person that I would let the auction continue and "let the chips fall where they may"! The offer the person made to me ended up being 20% less than the final bid. The person that made the offer ended up being high bidder and paid that 20% difference. Why have an auction if you're willing to sell your integrity along with the coin.

Fairlaneman · April 23, 2003 10:53AM

Clark old buddy so a person that closes a auction has no character according to your statement. There are sure alot of people, according to you, that have no character. Get into the real world. I'm just positive that if someone gave you a killer price on one of your auctions that had no bids you would turn it down. Some how this is not quite believable.

Now let it drop and next time do not single me out. Have a Damn nice evening.

Ken

Rampage · April 23, 2003 11:16AM

Thank you all for your replies. Cheers, Richard.

vam44 · April 23, 2003 11:23AM

I`ll pay $1 more than (s)he offered.

Hey! new emotions!

vam44 · April 23, 2003 11:25AM

Well, some of `em work!

ClarkOfKent · April 23, 2003 12:41PM

Fairlaneman ol' buddy, please feel free to spin my comments into something they aren't.

My statement, "It's about character."
is not the same as your interpretation: "so a person that closes a auction has no character according to your statement

I never stated anything about no character. I don't think character is something you either have or you don't. It's a little more complicated than that.

By the way... if I can't respond to any post here, what is this forum for? But, no problem. Why would I ever respond to another one of your posts now that I know that you're not in it for the fair exchange of opinions. You just want to be agreed with.

And, I'm not going to wish that you "Have a Damn nice evening.", because I really could care less what kind of evening you have.

LucyBop · April 23, 2003 12:56PM

<< <i>And, I'm not going to wish that you "Have a Damn nice evening.", because I really could care less what kind of evening you have. >>

sinin1 · April 23, 2003 1:14PM

I like them - I agree with you, how do you price those 3 items.

I have personally bought a couple still in government package with less blue tone in the $12-18 range -> you have them in ANACS slabs with good grades ??? $12-40 ??? close prices.

Items like this with low start are going to attract snipers who plug in their programs with what they are willing to bid - sometimes the snipers programs don't hit bids because current is higher - other times you can see bids jump 200%-300% in the last 5 seconds - the wonders of millisecond computer technology.

You have sold many items and I am always trying to improve my returns myself. What I have found is to have the auction going both Saturday and Sunday allows the people who work alot during the week to do their searches for items on their ?want? list.

I also found that 7 days auctions outperform 3 or 5 day auctions. If I have a higher ticket item I occasionally list it 10 days covering 2 weekends (start Thursday and end following Monday).

I don't snipe but usually don't bid alot either -> I'll bump all 3 of them up to $10 for you (and hopefully me)

If a board member asks you to close an auction and sell him/her a coin/coins, what do you do?

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