MyComicShop July Auction

[canickus]

Its good for the buyers as they can't be sniped, and good for the sellers as they get top dollar. It does create more work for buyers, but I'm in favor of that rule.

 

You may be correct but I think the big problem for sellers is that many potential buyers like me will not buy in an electronic auction with an auto-extend for several reasons but primarily because it is too easy for a seller to shill the auction. I think the ComicLink, Heritage, ebay model works much better for sellers particularly if the book is nice enough to attract multiple bidders. Bidders just put in their maximum bids. On the auto-extend auctions, a bidder has NO incentive to put in a maximum, in fact, the incentive is to bid the minimum every five minutes, which means you should be actively on your computer for the auction. I don't like to spend my time that way.

[mycomicshop]

Its good for the buyers as they can't be sniped, and good for the sellers as they get top dollar. It does create more work for buyers, but I'm in favor of that rule.

 

You may be correct but I think the big problem for sellers is that many potential buyers like me will not buy in an electronic auction with an auto-extend for several reasons but primarily because it is too easy for a seller to shill the auction. I think the ComicLink, Heritage, ebay model works much better for sellers particularly if the book is nice enough to attract multiple bidders. Bidders just put in their maximum bids. On the auto-extend auctions, a bidder has NO incentive to put in a maximum, in fact, the incentive is to bid the minimum every five minutes, which means you should be actively on your computer for the auction. I don't like to spend my time that way.

 

If a seller used an alternate account to bid on his own items, he runs the risk that he actually wins. If that happens, I think it's harder to back out of the transaction without getting "caught" and/or incurring transaction costs than it is on eBay. I can't claim that we'll be perfect, but we can definitely do a better job than eBay when it comes to making sure that bids are legitimate and winners actually buy the item. If you don't know us you may not have any reason to take my word for it, but my goal is to build and maintain a reputation for running fair, legitimate auctions where there's no funny stuff going on.

 

All bidders are assigned an anonymous but unique bidder ID that anyone can see on the bid history page: example here. If anyone has any other suggestions about steps we can take to give you tools or info that will give you confidence you're not being shilled, I'm happy to implement them so long as they don't pose other problems. If anyone's ever concerned that shill bids are being placed, I'm easy to reach and will look into it and give you a good answer, which is more than you can usually expect from eBay.

 

There might be some buyers that avoid absolutely all auto-extend auctions because they're concerned about shilling, but as long as the books are good and the auctions are well and fairly run, I don't think most people will have any concerns.

 

And if you don't like to spend your time sitting at the computer waiting for auctions to end, there's nothing to stop you from putting in your maximum bid and walking away (like Gaz said he does). Just because other people might put in last minute extended bids doesn't obligate you to be there for it if your max is already in.

[sufunk]

This is the way a real auction is supposed to work. Please do not change it - you have the correct model already. At best tweak the extension time lower as the thing drags out.

 

Exactly. The book should go to the person who is willing to pay the most, but given the chance to reconsider. Just like in a live auction (i.e., Heritage Live).

 

"Real" auctions extend themselves by a few seconds after a bid, not 5 minutes.

 

+1

 

I agree with FF that the extended bidding is a royal PITA. Ive never bid on mycomics but the few ive done on Pedigree and comicconnect annoyed the hell out of me. I had an Avengers i wanted go for like an extra 30 minutes a few months ago and it was driving me crazy. I'd rather just everyone put in their max bid and its over when its over. If you win great, if you dont try again later.

 

Definitely NOT a fan of the extended bidding

[mycomicshop]

I'm going to go ahead and reduce the extension period from 5 minutes to 3. I think 3 should be sufficient if you're present at the end of an auction and feel like you need to respond.

 

And then if an item reaches 10 minutes past the original close, the length of the extension period drops from 3 minutes to 1 minute.

 

Overtime = item has been extended past the original close, 3 minute extension after new bids

 

Sudden death = item has been extended 10 minutes after the original close, 1 minute extension after new bids

 

Depending on how that goes, I might even start the sudden death period earlier, at 5 minutes past the original close rather than 10.

 

I think that creates a good balance between allowing people to respond to new last-minute bids, while also keeping up the excitement and the pressure to go ahead and get your best bid in.

[shadroch]

While I disagree with what you are doing, I applaud your willingness to finetune your auctions based on feedback. (thumbs u

[mycomicshop]

Its good for the buyers as they can't be sniped, and good for the sellers as they get top dollar. It does create more work for buyers, but I'm in favor of that rule.

 

 

 

 

While I disagree with what you are doing, I applaud your willingness to finetune your auctions based on feedback. (thumbs u

 

I thought you were in favor of extensions in the case of last minute bids (re: your quote at top)--what is it that you disagree with? Reducing the extension from 5 minutes to 3?

 

Thanks though--I get a lot of good feedback and ideas from the people here on the boards and am glad to be able to bounce ideas off you guys.

 

 

[shadroch]

I like the five minute extension, and would have left it alone, but I like your willingness to adapt to your clients wishs

[troydivision1]

As someone who has not used your service I can say:

 

For a seller / auction house it makes more sense to extend the auctions after each bid because the potential for both parties to increase their profit increases with additional minute added to the clock.

 

For a buyer / bargain sniper it is not a good deal. There is no guarantee you are going to get a steal of a price for that item only one other person wants.

 

An example, last week an auction I was watching on eBay was ending soon so eBay alerted my phone. I made an excuse to leave the sales floor, checked the price and it was still a good deal with only 1 bid. Knowing it ended in 14 minutes I went back to work and in 12 minutes I excused myself to use the restroom.

I pulled up the auction on my phone and sniped it with 20 secs left.

 

Had this been an auction you were holding I wouldn't have been able to bid back and forth while working for 3 to 5 minutes at a time.

[DailySuperpower]

As someone who has not used your service I can say:

 

For a seller / auction house it makes more sense to extend the auctions after each bid because the potential for both parties to increase their profit increases with additional minute added to the clock.

 

For a buyer / bargain sniper it is not a good deal. There is no guarantee you are going to get a steal of a price for that item only one other person wants.

 

An example, last week an auction I was watching on eBay was ending soon so eBay alerted my phone. I made an excuse to leave the sales floor, checked the price and it was still a good deal with only 1 bid. Knowing it ended in 14 minutes I went back to work and in 12 minutes I excused myself to use the restroom.

I pulled up the auction on my phone and sniped it with 20 secs left.

 

Had this been an auction you were holding I wouldn't have been able to bid back and forth while working for 3 to 5 minutes at a time.

 

First, there's no guarantee the person you sniped it from would have continued bidding. If the person is present 20 seconds is plenty of time to put in a new max bid.

 

Second, if the person you were bidding against did decide to continue bidding, it would likely take the item out of your "good deal" range.

 

Third, for the person you sniped, the five minute extension would be a welcomed opportunity to reconsider their maximum bid. Allowing them an exended opportunity to purchase an item they've expressed interest in would probably please them. So, the extension would please one bidder and displease the other, evening out the policy from a bidders standpoint in this situation.

 

Ultimately I think the extension allows items to sell at a fair value for both sellers and buyers. Ideally knowledge of the time extension will persuade people to put in their max bids with plenty of time to spare and have the auctions play out accordingly. This is what I would want as both a buyer and a seller.