Huggins and Scott auction system down -- Thursday Update

Wondo

So..... I'm trying to bid in their auction tonight and "POOF" - no response. I called and they are down.

That must be terrifying.

ripkenintheminors

Yeah, this is amazing. I had some items I was interested in but planned to wait until tonight to bid.

What's sad is this paragraph from a recent e-mail I received from them:

Also, we are pleased to report that due to the overwhelming success of our last auction, we have been able to upgrade our server and entire auction system to now handle 333% more internet traffic than we did last October. This should solve any slowing of the system at the end of the auction.

Wondo

The consignors are not going to be happy.................

Wondo

Update...tonight's session will be continued into tomorrow nights.

ripkenintheminors

Were you told anything when you called about the possibility of extensions on the auctions scheduled to end tonight?

ripkenintheminors

<< <i>Update...tonight's session will be continued into tomorrow nights. >>



Thanks for the update. I wonder how this will affect the overall sales in the auction. I know that my strategy for night 2 is always based on what happens in night 1. May not make any impact, but I thought the idea was worth throwing out for consideration.

Archaninator

.

mikeschmidt

seems a REALLY crappy way to treat consignors and high bidders (of which, I was one of)...

I'm too much of a cynic, I guess -- and I too often see these sorts of problems that seem to really just end up screwing some collector down the road.

Come on, guys -- this is sad.

cohocorp

here is an email i got from them. i figured i would pass it on to shed some light.


"We are very sorry for the technical problems that we experienced Wednesday
night. The Verizon Business Fiber Optics System crashed about 4 minutes prior to
our auction closing. We contacted Verizon Business Support, but they could not
give us a definitive time of restoration. At that time, we had a decision to
make.

As a company, here is what we've decided to do:

* Lot #s 1-739, which were supposed to end Wednesday, will now end Thursday
night and once the site comes back up, we will stay in the extended bidding
time. This means that all of the people who had bids in prior to 9:00pm EST on
lot #s 1-739, will be allowed to bid on those items until they close Thursday
night beginning at 11:00pm EST with the 30-minute rule again. Lot #'s 740-1531
will close as they were supposed to, where all initial bids will need to be
placed by 9:00pm EST Thursday night on those.

* All of the data is still perfectly intact and if you were the high bidder
at the time of the crash, you are still the high bidder when the system is
restored.


Again, we sincerely apologize and it was completely out of our control. We
believe this is the best way to handle this situation.

Our offices will open at 10 AM EST on Thursday for phone bidders and questions."


thank you and again, please accept our apologies.
Huggins and Scott Auctions

DaBigHurt

When there's a crash like this for auctioneers, I think the only sensible thing to do is to prolong the auction another day or two. What else can they do?

ripkenintheminors

I wasn't the high bidder on anything so I guess I can appreciate that. I probably would've been pretty frantic if this happened in their auction last fall. On an unrelated note, I'm personally not a huge fan of the 30 minute overtime rule, especially with the auction ending late. In the fall auction it was between me and another person on an auction. Rather than place the bid, they would wait 29 minutes of the 30 minute limit before placing their bid. I believe it took 3 hours for the overtime to end.

Wondo

The auction format that more and more folks are going to with the individual lots closing is a heckuva lot bette than the ones that close all at once. Sometimes the big auctions didn't / did end until 3-5 in the morning. It's crazy and it gives West Coast bidders a huge advantage.

cohocorp

this type of situation puts the auctioneer is a bad spot. their only move is to prolong the auction and send out emails. just like they did.

Wondo

So the auction is live tonight and I'm bidding and ---POOF! - I'm getting notices that I have won lots that I was outbid on an hour ago.

Not good.

Edited to add I called to let them know, and the guy on the phone was not very nice. "Let me guess, you are getting erroneous emails. Everybody's calling - If your high bidder on the system your high bidder." Short. Curt. Rude.

Now, I sure the guy is frustrated, but I would think it's time to bend over backwards to the folks buying the product. What a way to run a company.

NickM

I blew the deadline for getting a bid in on a lot that closed unbid (Saints helmet), because the time clock they use goes til the end of the 2 hour period after the initial bidding period. Oh well.

I did snag a lot cheaply that may have been overlooked due to its title - original lineup cards signed by Baker and LaRussa (from a game where Bonds and McGwire homered), 6 milestone game tickets, and a whole bunch of new baseballs (plus miscellaneous). I figure the balls alone are worth what I'm paying for the lot.

The boxing autographs seemed to be going very cheaply.

Pre-war was hot, as usual.

Nick

ripkenintheminors

I had several things I was watching but didn't make a run at any of it. A person can make some money consigning some certain items in their auction. Their fall auction was the only other auction I had watched and I was curious to see if some prices happened again. Sure enough, some items sold for as much as 4x what you see the same thing sell elsewhere.

KyleBicking

I'm sure they're beyond upset with the technical issues, but they've done a great job handling it. Huggins and Scott is an awesome auction house with fantastic items and very, very fast shipping. Highly recommended!

Ripken

Two autographed baseballs=$200K +

Auction story