MCMiles

Yep, More all the time. It's working for sellers and buyers.

Someone beat me to this Black Hole #4 yesterday.

I really don't see the drove of unscrupulous sellers coming here that some of you are fearing. As has been mentioned several times, the standards won't benefit them. If they don't follow the standards, their efforts will get yanked, and they won't bother anymore. I doubt it will even be nearly as popular as the regular sales forums. However, sometimes a seller may just want whatever they can get for an item but would still like to get as much as possible, which results in a good deal for the buyer usually. Sure they could list it and keep dropping the price till it sells. That still results in an excessive amount of thread bumps and serves pretty much the same purpose. At least in an auction everyone has a fair shot at a deal. We've all logged on to see we just missed a great buy to someone we despise. I ran a few successful auctions and would like to run some more, but I felt guilty every time the thread was bumped for a one dollar bid. It's annoying enough when Roy bumps his threads to say a book sold when he could have just edited the post, and all of the other sneaky tricks sellers use to bump their threads. I'd like to run some auctions here, but don't want to clog up front page real estate in the for sale forums with a bunch of $1 bids being posted. So a separate forum would be nice.

I'm saying those people come and go. There could me more drawn in by a free place to auction. Either way they come and a certain percentage stay. eBay has way less true auctions than BIN listings for comics. Is there really going to be an influx of these dreaded eBay types to a place where they have to have an opening bid if $1 and no reserve? What would be the draw for them? Sure some will come that don't bother reading the rules and the mods can deal with it. If it becomes overwhelming then they can eliminate it. I 'me not against auctions and don't fear these eBay types flooding the place. I really don't care if an auction forum is created, to be honest, but there either needs to be a rule against them or a separate place for them.

Until they decide to move to the other selling forums and offer up mystery boxes or "hot books" at VF grades that are far from it when they come in water stained on the inside... Again, when they get no response, or their posts get deleted or locked they will move along. It's always worked that way here.

I don't care for auctions in the for sale forums. The format clogs up real estate which is already clogged with too many pointless or sneaky thread bumps. I ran a few and tried to keep them simple, and only bumped them myself once in the last few hours. If they are going to be continued to be allowed in any form, then I think a sub-forum and some rules would be beneficial. If it becomes a mess or too much of a burden on mods, then Arch can just get rid of it.

I get the reluctance. I understand the fear that it will draw eBay types here that could affect the community. However, I find it ironic because the place has become loaded with tools already, particularly the selling forums. There are quite a few shady types actually pulling the wool over heads and passing themselves to some as decent members of the community. I used to sell here almost exclusively. I've gotten to where I prefer eBay. At least the tools there pay more. If an auction sub-forum will draw in undesirables. At least everyone will know where they are, and simply don't visit that part of the forums. Don't browse, don't bid, don't list, don't click on it.

I ran three auctions in the sales forum last week. Two were bought at the BIN price and all three went smooth and didn't take up a lot of real estate on the front page. I'm pretty sure they weren't a gimmick.

Fixed I agree no mystery boxes. But why do you care if there are auctions in a different forum? Just don't go there. its gonna bring a lot more people to the threads JUST TO SELL, and they will NOT KNOW OR FOLLOW the rules, and THEY WILL post EVERYWHERE. It will create far more headaches that its worth. UNLESS we can implement a rule where someone with less than 500 posts (or whatever) cannot even START a new thread in the auction area. I don't think it will attract any more than the selling forums already do. If they don't follow the rules then their thread gets yanked. I doubt the kinds of sellers you're talking about will have much interest in a no reserve format. The turds won't last and the decent people will stay. Besides, they're already coming here in droves.

A number of people have mentioned the "no reserve" idea, but I'm not sure what it means. Does it mean no hidden reserve -- "Sorry, I'm not selling the book because the highest bid was $150 and my (unstated) reserve was $175" -- or does it mean that the opening bid has to be $0.99? In other words, is opening an auction with an initial bid of, say, $100, what you mean be a "reserve'? I'm pretty sure every one means all listings must have a $1 dollar opening bid and bid increment and if the max bid is $1 then it's sold for $1. If you can't risk it, don't list it. That will keep the ebay types away. $1 opening and $1 increment should be required otherwise. Someone can just use a really high bid opening bid and bid increment to protect themselves.

Fixed I agree no mystery boxes. But why do you care if there are auctions in a different forum? Just don't go there.

To keep it from becoming ebay: One thread at a time. Limit of one lot (max three) per thread. No reserve No bumping your own thread except once within the last eight hours. No posting in a closed auction other than to announce the winner and close the thread. All should be no reserve but I have nothing against a BIN price. If it's ridiculous it will just be ignored. If it's reasonable and gets hit. The auction is over early and clears space.

The problem for CGC and for collectors is that eventually at least one copy without the tears surfaced. So that one (and other like it) is really a 9.8 and the others are "well, these were thought to be 9.8 based on the fact that we had never seen one without the tears." Exactly. There is no reason the best possible copy couldn't have just been a 9.6 forever or until a true 9.8 actually showed up. Some books just aren't going to have and shouldn't have 10, 9.9, or maybe even 9.8.

Lots of things about this place have been like eBay for some time now. Particularly in the sales forums. Comics have reached a new high in popularity. Buying, selling, flipping, speculating along with it. There's a new wanna be BSD every time you turn around. It's probably a good idea to go ahead and hash out some guidelines for auctions and create a separate forum. Unless you want a lot of auctions with poor format flooding the regular sales forums. At least if there is a separate forum and it becomes a mess. You just don't have to go there anymore. Sort of like I do with Comics General.

Generally I am very much in favour of making a separate area for auctions. IMO to allow more than one at the same time would be a catastrophe, it would overwhelm the system, within a day you would have to scroll through a 100 pages to see what is "new". For the people who want to run auctions it would bury any given auction underneath an avalanche, and thus be self defeating. My is that it is crucial that we have a consensus that each member can only run one auction at a time. I dunno about that. If I want to sell ten comics, and I for some reason want them to be auctions, it's gonna take me like 20 days to sell them, assuming my auctions only run for two days. Why not allow two or three auctions to run concurrently? I understand that limiting each member to running them one at a time sequentially seems extreme, but even with 2 or three allowed at a time, you have to multiply that by the number of members wanting to run auctions. My opinion is based on the assumption that auctions will continue to grow in use and the number of members using auctions will continue to grow. And it should be considered also that one does not have to run an auction to sell books, the normal sales area is very successful as is for selling books. Good point - put me in the 'one auction at a time' camp. Boardies with more to sell can run an auction for a selected item, and sell concurrently in a regular thread...this will make people be more selective about what they choose to auction, and will help ensure that auctions don't become a dominant sales mechanism here...I think many of us would prefer "normal" sales threads to remain the norm, while allowing the auction format as a fun/interesting option when appropriate...'one auction at a time' would facilitate this structure. Agreed

Some "rules" thoughts: - minimum 48 hour duration and maximum one week duration; - no reserves (if you decide to do an auction here, you need to bear the associated risk); you complete the sale at the max bid, whatever that is, else you go on the PL; if there's some minimum price you must have on a book, don't do an auction...do a regular sales thread - no BIN is necessary...if we have a separate area and rules for auctions, why be so concerned that they fit within the other rules? Anyway, most BINs are unrealistically high. just put there to comply with the unwritten rule that you have to have one; i.e., if you want to do a BIN, fine, but it's not mandatory - of course, all bids must be publicly posted in the thread itself - once you start an auction (along with a specified ending day/time), you cannot close it down prematurely, even if there are no bids (I've already seen this happen out there) - since we'll have to use the forum clock as the end timer, we need to define what the ending time means...for example, if someone says the ending time is 9:00pm EST, does that mean 9:00:00, or 9:00:59 (i.e., just before the clock strikes 9:01)...I've seen it done both ways out there... Also, we'll have to think about whether/how to address suspected shilling True concerning the BIN. Really isn't important in an auction only forum. Really agree about no reserves, all bids public, and no shutting it down early.

I disagree with it having to be CGC items only. Just like the regular threads, there is a lot of good raw books offered (as well as a bunch of junk) Also, one reason I said there should be a limit is hopefully. sellers would want to make lots worth while and not use up their own allotted space for junk. There could also be a limit or rule against bumping your own thread until the last three hours or something. That way junk listings will quickly get pushed down if they are not receiving bids. It looks like there will be a presence of auctions though, and as long as there is a BIN they really fit with in all of the current rules so there may as well be a separate forum for them.

I think a separate forum for auctions would be good simply because the format is conducive for thread bumps, which pushes regular for sale listings off the front page quickly. A single forum would probably suffice until a point there are so many it may be better to break them down into other forums based on age. A limit of one lot per thread and one or two threads at a time to keep things fair to other users. Too many lots in a thread will mean more bids (more thread bumps). Too many listings at once will take up too much front page space. I think they should be required to be no reserve and there should be a required BIN for the duration of the listing. Maybe a maximum duration of only three to five days.

It's a printing defect, but I still think they lower the standard for that book to meet it's "typical" condition.

In my experience, 301 is absolutely the most difficult to obtain in 9.8. I've produced multiples of every book from the McFarlane run including 298-300 in 9.8. I just recently got my first 301 in 9.8. Sometimes CGC grades a book tough for years and then lowers its standards and a flood of 9.8's come pouring in. Harbinger 1 is a good example. Maybe it is time ASM 301 gets the "easy pass" treatment. There are certainly some books sitting out there in 9.6 holders that I swore could have/ should have been 9.8's. I would rather they have a grading standard that is not dependent on any one comic, if such a thing truly exists as you seem to be suggesting Agreed. I believe they lowered the standards to accommodate getting a 9.8 Wolverine #35 on the census.

In my experience, 301 is absolutely the most difficult to obtain in 9.8. I've produced multiples of every book from the McFarlane run including 298-300 in 9.8. I just recently got my first 301 in 9.8.

Nice. I wish that would go on GPA.

This is not news. #1 in 9.8 has been a $450-550 book for a while. The GPA high this year is $660. Try actually reading before commenting . . . I'm pretty sure Transplant read it the way most of whetton's posts are presented. "Look at how high this book is currently." I took the phrase, "Well past being hot" as "this book is now beyond hot, just look at the price" not to mean it heated up a long time ago. Transplant may have also. I think he was only pointing out that the book has been selling strong for a while. I don't think it was intended to be condescending. Unlike your smart azz condescending remark ad face palm. It amazes me how many people around here like to be condescending a-holes from behind their computers.