Who hates Heritage's auction policy?
khayse
Posts: 1,336 ✭
Alright people, just let me vent here.
I was awaiting the end of an auction last night when I
noticed a link on Heritage's page that talked about "sniper defense".
It seems that the auction doesn't end until no one bids for 10
minutes. I put in my bid a little earlier than I usually would have
because the timer on the auction page was screwy (it kept
incrementing instead of decrementing every now and then).
Finally the auction "ended" and I was high bidder with about a 30
to 40% cushion.
No problem I thought. Someone may bid once or twice more but
my high bid is clearly out of their ballpark. Now first off, everytime
someone bid the "minutes left" went up to 10min XXseconds
and the auction was extended more than 10 minutes everytime.
Secondly it seemed that there was no end to the number of
times that the clock to could be reset. Also did someone bidding
reset the counter for themselves. Reseting the counter is
supposed to give the person who is already high bidder a chance
to react. It's not supposed to give the challenger more time
to decide what he wants to do.
Where does it end? Can he keep upping the bid every 9.9
minutes until I fall asleep?
Does this person have absolutely no idea what the price range
of the coin is and is just upping it to find what my research tells
me it is worth?
I just don't think it is right for someone to be nowhere close
to the final selling price when the auction "ends" and then to
just up it slowly, slowly, slowly until he finds what you put
in for a high bid 40 minutes earlier (and 30 minutes after the
auction should have ended).
I just think there needs to be some sort of limit. If you're not
within 40% of my high bid when the auction ends you don't
get 10 minutes to try to "find" my bid. Or at least limit it to
10 or 15 minutes total (put a max on the number of times it
can be extended).
I just see this as a hook for Heritage to make more money by
getting people to bid due to "auction frenzy".
Maybe there are just people who like sniping and people who
like this and it's a personal preference but last night was just
infuriating.
Opinions?
-Keith H
I was awaiting the end of an auction last night when I
noticed a link on Heritage's page that talked about "sniper defense".
It seems that the auction doesn't end until no one bids for 10
minutes. I put in my bid a little earlier than I usually would have
because the timer on the auction page was screwy (it kept
incrementing instead of decrementing every now and then).
Finally the auction "ended" and I was high bidder with about a 30
to 40% cushion.
No problem I thought. Someone may bid once or twice more but
my high bid is clearly out of their ballpark. Now first off, everytime
someone bid the "minutes left" went up to 10min XXseconds
and the auction was extended more than 10 minutes everytime.
Secondly it seemed that there was no end to the number of
times that the clock to could be reset. Also did someone bidding
reset the counter for themselves. Reseting the counter is
supposed to give the person who is already high bidder a chance
to react. It's not supposed to give the challenger more time
to decide what he wants to do.
Where does it end? Can he keep upping the bid every 9.9
minutes until I fall asleep?
Does this person have absolutely no idea what the price range
of the coin is and is just upping it to find what my research tells
me it is worth?
I just don't think it is right for someone to be nowhere close
to the final selling price when the auction "ends" and then to
just up it slowly, slowly, slowly until he finds what you put
in for a high bid 40 minutes earlier (and 30 minutes after the
auction should have ended).
I just think there needs to be some sort of limit. If you're not
within 40% of my high bid when the auction ends you don't
get 10 minutes to try to "find" my bid. Or at least limit it to
10 or 15 minutes total (put a max on the number of times it
can be extended).
I just see this as a hook for Heritage to make more money by
getting people to bid due to "auction frenzy".
Maybe there are just people who like sniping and people who
like this and it's a personal preference but last night was just
infuriating.
Opinions?
-Keith H
0
Comments
To heck with that. I'm still mad about the 15% on the weekly internet auctions. I used to win a couple of lots at least once a month. Now I can't afford to do that anymore and factoring the fee into the bid usually won't get me the win. Can get the coins cheaper on E-Bay now.
Keith
This reminds me of the time we auctioned off the #1 Firefighter coin (with a runoff since Steve bid in the last 5 minutes) here on the boards and Registrycoin was at his pub with all his friends around. As they drank libation after libation at the pub, I frankly believed Steve H. would have bid just about anything to win the coin at that point!!
How's this for entertainment... Just bid at the end to get a runoff, put a pint of Jack Daniels in front of you and have some fun for the evening. Beats going out for the evening- NOT!
I also stopped doing business with Heritage when they implemented the 15% fee on the weekly Internet auctions. Their reasoning was insulting and I'll also not pay a buyer's fee on any Internet auction. When I complained to them in writing, their response was "Our customers wanted uniformity throughout our different types of auctions..." - Show me one collector who asked to pay a buyer's fee!
Always looking for:
Irish Coins & Tokens - New Hampshire Tokens
Morgan Dollars
Coins & Tokens of Rhodesia, Suid Afrika, Namibia & Nyasaland
IrishNumismatist
Are you talking about the 76-P T2? I was one of the bidders after 10PM. My bid was 111, but I only bid once right after 10. I see it went on up to $185 before closing. The 76-S Silver MS68 also soared significantly after close, selling for $1,550!
I did pick up the AU58 1863 Indian cent, and a 76-D T2 MS66 Ike, at about $50 each.
I was not thrilled with the rule changes when I saw them, but I will operate within them to the best of my ability!
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
In God We Trust.... all others pay in Gold and Silver!
Yeah, I won and got a great deal and I'm still complaining.
No, I lost. I put up an "outrageous" bid just to make sure I
got the coin and I didn't get the coin. Since you've beaten it
out of me,
Here!
When the auction should have ended it was at around $900
including the juice.
I know what you're going to say. Don't say it. Don't do it Mitch.
OK, I should have bought the last one from you.
Well, they've made 3 or 4 of these in the last month. I'll just wait
for one of the others to show up.
-Keith H
Keith D
Do you think the bidding was intention, or just a fluke that a $900 final bid ended that way? Wondercoin.
I think it was a fluke.
It seems odd to me that someone so intent on buying the
coin would let it get to that stage of the bidding with such
a low bid. And then to bid it up during sudden death so
slowly. (if I was going to follow this procedure, as soon as
sudden death started I would bid as high as I was willing to go).
It just "feels" like the guy got wrapped up in the frenzy.
Of course it only takes two determined people to bid up a
coin (and I've been the underbidder in the last two 76-S
auctions). Hopefully all the really determined people
have their coin now
-Keith H
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
But I still won't buy from them as I think the 15% fee is a real rip.
My strategy is to get a low bid in on all the coins I'm interested in when the auction opens. Then, at closing time, I'll place my real bid on anything still at a fair price.
My only wonder is should I hyperbid the price up immediately to prevent others from planting low ball bids?
the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed
Join the NRA and protect YOUR right to keep and bear arms
To protest against all hunting of game is a sign of softness of head, not soundness of heart. Theodore Roosevelt
[L]http://www.ourfallensoldier.com/ThompsonMichaelE_MemorialPage.html[L]
I guess I've bought for years at Heritage, Bowers, and even Stacks auctions and realize the buyers fee is part of the equation.
Regarding sniper defense; as a seller it's a godsend and prevents low ball sniping. As a buyer it makes sure you either bid strong or play the game at the end to get the coin you want. Either way don't spend more than you want to spend!
Tom
I understand that the Buyer's Fee is part of the equation, but as a Texas resident, I have to factor in the Sales Tax too. That gives me another 9% disadvantage unless I buy enough to go over $1,000. On my budget, that's not easy. Even worse is that has to be in a single transaction. $600 at a Bullet sale and $600 at a Signature sale cannot be combined for the threshold.
Most of the material that sells on the Internet auctions are pieces that were first offered on the website inventory at a price over current market. The Internet fee is a way to make that spread back.
Keith
The buyer's fee on a weekly "Internet Only" auction is an unnecessary profit-generating medium for Heritage. I don't understand why you mentioned postage and handling costs... Heritage charges P&H just as eBay sellers do so that's not an aspect of the equation.
I can certainly understand buyer's fees on grand format auctions, but not on weekly Internet auctions. It's an unnecessary fee for the effort extended on Heritage's part.
Always looking for:
Irish Coins & Tokens - New Hampshire Tokens
Morgan Dollars
Coins & Tokens of Rhodesia, Suid Afrika, Namibia & Nyasaland
IrishNumismatist
What is sniping anyway? It is bidding at the last second. Why is it so great to bid at the last second? Because there could be somebody else willing to bid more than you but they don't get the time to bid. So if you snipe successfully either you were willing to pay the most for that item or you were faster than somebody else who was willing to pay more. In the first case there is no problem.
The auction is flawed if it doesn't determine the highest bidder. That is the point of having an auction. No bidder should be upset if somebody else is willing to pay more than they are.
This policy won't hurt me as a buyer. I was not very good at sniping anyway and never bothered with snipe software. So I just put in my high bid early. It would help me as a seller though so you all know where my bias lies
On the other hand the Bowers and Merena auction was too fast. All bidders were present but internet bidders often were willing to pay more but couldn't react quickly enough.
Here's a good one for you though. Last year at the Central States show in Indiana, I went to Heritage's lot pickup area to pick up and pay for 2 lots in person that I had won through internet bidding. I thought that by doing this I would save on the shipping fees. When some elderly lady handed me my invoice, I noticed that not only had they still added a shipping charge, but they also charged me Indiana sales tax even though I'm not from Indiana, what a ripoff. And not even to mention that the actual coins looked much worse in person then Heritage's internet pics.
Dragon
the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed
Join the NRA and protect YOUR right to keep and bear arms
To protest against all hunting of game is a sign of softness of head, not soundness of heart. Theodore Roosevelt
[L]http://www.ourfallensoldier.com/ThompsonMichaelE_MemorialPage.html[L]
Re: Texas and California sales taxes or any state sales tax for that matter. I'm a modest coin purchaser, but if necessary I have an alternate, out of state, address (a relative) if necessary. Maybe something to think about, I've rarely had to use it though.
Re: Most inventory in Internet auctions being unsucessful website items. I think that is the exception rather than the rule. I and many others like their internet auctions to sell quickly $40 - 150 coins.
Mansco:
Re: Shipping times. Every one has been slow shipping especially since 9/11. I believe the dealers on this board will testify to excruciatingtingly slow USPS shipping times. Not their fault.
Irish Numismatist: My last internet auction purchases were for 12 lots for a total s&h of $6.50. Try that on ebay. My point is the bidding fee is a part of the purchase, figure it in as you would s&h.
Carlwohlforth: As you I'm not a good sniper, as a seller amen to the extended bidding... It gives a better chance for the person who is willing to bid the highest to actually be the highest bid.
Dragon: Be careful with anybody buying ONSITE. The last onsit auction I participated in I paid onsite but allowed the items to be shipped (got them 2 days later) without taxes and minimal s&h. At least with their current return policy you could have turned down the coins if you didn't like them
My whole point is if Heritage has your coin, bid with the buyers fee in mind.
Tom
the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed
Join the NRA and protect YOUR right to keep and bear arms
To protest against all hunting of game is a sign of softness of head, not soundness of heart. Theodore Roosevelt
[L]http://www.ourfallensoldier.com/ThompsonMichaelE_MemorialPage.html[L]
Don't think I'll try Heritage again. Did better with the Kingswood auction at Bowers. Overpaid but the Indians I received were real nice.
Last auction I won, they shipped before I contacted them to pay.
That out of state address got me thinking... then I remembered I'm moving to Mississippi soon!