Heritage Internet Bidding Issue

[MarkWoodcock]

For the second time in a row, I've put in a bid at the end of an auction that's well above the next bidding increment and I get a message saying: "There has been a bidding error. Please try again."

 

I don't have time to figure out what the (non)problem is and the book sells for way below what I put my bid in for.

 

Has anyone else had this problem?

[killerkomics]

Sorry to hear about your lost, but what were you trying to bid on?

[Bomber-Bob]

I believe I once got a bidding error when I put in the '.00' decimals on my bid.

HA only wants whole numbers.

[ImageMask]

 

I don't have time to figure out what the (non)problem is and the book sells for way below what I put my bid in for.

 

 

 

You don't have the time to figure it out yet you have time to post the question? Phone call to Heritage would have saved you "time."

[Ghost Town]

 

I don't have time to figure out what the (non)problem is and the book sells for way below what I put my bid in for.

 

 

 

You don't have the time to figure it out yet you have time to post the question? Phone call to Heritage would have saved you "time."

I think Mark is saying that there wasn't enough time to put in another bid before the auction ended.

[ImageMask]

 

I don't have time to figure out what the (non)problem is and the book sells for way below what I put my bid in for.

 

 

 

You don't have the time to figure it out yet you have time to post the question? Phone call to Heritage would have saved you "time."

I think Mark is saying that there wasn't enough time to put in another bid before the auction ended.

 

My bad! I read it different. But the phone call still applies............

[Tsimanga]

 

It happened to me a few auctions ago. None of my bids went through - turned out I forgot to update my CC info...

 

Give 'em a call, nothing anybody here can do but speculate.

[MarkWoodcock]

It happened to me a few auctions ago. None of my bids went through - turned out I forgot to update my CC info...

 

Give 'em a call, nothing anybody here can do but speculate.

 

I agree but I just wanted to hear if the same thing had happened to other people.

 

I will give them a call and kvetch.

 

Thanks!

[tb]

For the second time in a row, I've put in a bid at the end of an auction that's well above the next bidding increment and I get a message saying: "There has been a bidding error. Please try again."

 

I don't have time to figure out what the (non)problem is and the book sells for way below what I put my bid in for.

 

Has anyone else had this problem?

 

I had the same problem in a weekly auction about a year ago. I entered around 10 bids simultaneously and submitted them 30 seconds before the end of the auction. They were all rejected with the same message with plenty of time left. It never happened before or after so my conclusion was that I must have made a typo with one of the bids. Since then, I've been extra careful when typing the numbers.

[MarkWoodcock]

I just called Heritage and the bottom line is that their system isn't capable of properly handling multiple bids coming in in the last few seconds - THAT'S why you get error messages.

 

I'm shocked to learn this. Most serious bidders wait until the very end to bid and if Heritage isn't able to handle this it means, as a seller, you're getting screwed.

 

It's time for Heritage to get its act together.

 

 

[Mark 1]

Interesting...i've never had any issues.

[tth2]

So don't wait until the last few seconds to bid.

 

When I was a little kid and found out that touching a hot stove burned my hand, I stopped touching hot stoves.

 

[paperheart]

I just called Heritage and the bottom line is that their system isn't capable of properly handling multiple bids coming in in the last few seconds - THAT'S why you get error messages.

 

I'm shocked to learn this. Most serious bidders wait until the very end to bid and if Heritage isn't able to handle this it means, as a seller, you're getting screwed.

 

It's time for Heritage to get its act together.

 

 

they seem to have no problem handling whoever outbids me every Sunday in the closing seconds

[cheetah]

I just called Heritage and the bottom line is that their system isn't capable of properly handling multiple bids coming in in the last few seconds - THAT'S why you get error messages.

 

I'm shocked to learn this. Most serious bidders wait until the very end to bid and if Heritage isn't able to handle this it means, as a seller, you're getting screwed.

 

It's time for Heritage to get its act together.

 

 

I don't know how many books you were bidding on but I've done plenty of last second bids with Heritage and never had the problem. I've done as many as 20 books with 20 seconds left. I don't think anyone else can match Heritage's bidding software. I know there live auctions sometimes run into delays due to the number of users dragging down the local provider but their software is pretty exceptional.

[Aces]

I get that crapp too.

 

Here's what happens:

 

You bid (I do a group bid from my watch page at last minute) and three things can happen:

 

Bid goes through and you are highest bidder.

 

Bid goes though but you were outbid.

 

Bid doesn't go though because in the thirty seconds to one minute it took you to type the bids and your password someone had placed a bid that drove up the lowest bid allowed pass what you had just bid.

 

 

[MarkWoodcock]

I realize that there are people who haven't had a problem but it doesn't change the fact that it's happened to me two times in a row.

 

It also doesn't change the the fact that, regardless of how incredible their bidding software is, they are not capable of processing ALL the bids in the last few seconds because that's when the crush of bids come in. This isn't my theory, this is what I was told - by THEM.

 

So what I've learned is:

 

1. Don't wait to bid until the last few seconds.

2. Don't use them as an auction house if I have something to sell.

 

As loathsome, from a bidding standpoint, as Metropolis's method is for bidding (if you bid in the last few minutes, the clock resets for several more minutes until there's no bidding activity), it's the best method for a seller because they're sure to get the highest possible price for their books. Sellers love it - bidders hate it, but the auction house's fiduciary responsibility is to the seller and not the bidder so it's the best way to do it.

 

Since Heritage can't accomodate all bidders, they need to switch over to Metropolis's method.

[tb]

Assuming you don't want to give up sniping, another approach could be to log in to Heritage in two different browser windows and type your bids into both. If one fails, you can quickly switch to the other window and hit the "submit bids" button there.

 

I honestly don't think the problem I had was because of server overload. I got the error message almost immediately and there must have been over 20 seconds left of the bidding.

 

 

[Jeffreykli]

I realize that there are people who haven't had a problem but it doesn't change the fact that it's happened to me two times in a row.

 

It also doesn't change the the fact that, regardless of how incredible their bidding software is, they are not capable of processing ALL the bids in the last few seconds because that's when the crush of bids come in. This isn't my theory, this is what I was told - by THEM.

 

So what I've learned is:

 

1. Don't wait to bid until the last few seconds.

2. Don't use them as an auction house if I have something to sell.

 

As loathsome, from a bidding standpoint, as Metropolis's method is for bidding (if you bid in the last few minutes, the clock resets for several more minutes until there's no bidding activity), it's the best method for a seller because they're sure to get the highest possible price for their books. Sellers love it - bidders hate it, but the auction house's fiduciary responsibility is to the seller and not the bidder so it's the best way to do it.

 

Since Heritage can't accomodate all bidders, they need to switch over to Metropolis's method.

 

I don't agree that Metropolis' method is sure to get the highest possible price. Yes, the auction gets extended until the last underbidder drops out, but you're assuming that the same pool of bidders are equal between Heritage and Metro. I believe that Heritage has a broader base of bidders, and therefore, even with some slight software errors (your mileage may vary), Heritage is still a better place to go as a consignor than Metro. Obviously this depends on the book that you want to sell and the market for that book (as shown by the $1M+ sales).