Never Ending Auction Times ?

[mattliu]

Has anyone else noticed that Aquatic Auctions will keep extending the auction end times indefinitely to suck more money out of the bidders ?

Does anyone else find this practice _______ ?

I just tried to bid on a coral and they pushed back the auction 4 times and counting.

Please explain AA ....



:mad2:

[Steve Ruddy]

I noticed if there is active bidding the auction time will increase after each bid. This only seems to happen when getting close to the scheduled close time. I haven't figured out how close to the end it has to be for this to happen but I know what you mean.

[rtparty]

If someone bids in the last 5 minutes, the auction continues for another 5 minutes. This is not a !@#$% practice at all. It keeps last second bidders from screwing someone over. You can't wait for the last 1 minute and then start running up the price or outbid someone. They will have a chance to counter the offer you put in.

I like that it works that way. If you don't want to spend more money, don't put your proxy bid so high! ONLY put what you are WILLING to spend!

[strat24]

I agree that's not right to extend it like that. They are a business and need to make there money so good for them.

[Steve Ruddy]

The word "auction" is almost as good as "free" now a days.

That's certainly not the case here. I saw a Scolymia sp. go for over $1000.00. Most ending prices are a lot better than that though.

[Aquatic~Auction]

Here is an explanation for the auto bid extend that occurs at AA. This feature allows the bidders to bid on the item and win and not be overtaken by the last second snipe. http://www.aquaticauction.com/iSynApp/showPage.action?sid=151&pageName=faq-buyer#extend If you do have any questions please feel free to give us a shout at support@aquaticauction.com

Team Aquatic Auction
www.aquaticauction.com

[Chibils]

I don't like the practice, but it's their business. IMO proxy bids are a better solution, and the site already has that. If someone bid snipes above your proxy, then they win because they were willing to pay more than you regardless. You proxy to what you're willing to pay.

[datrueleo69]

I guess to be bias, I do like that aspect because as has been said, I use the proxy bidding as well, however that doesn't mean that that will truly be the max I will pay for an item. With the process AA uses, if my proxy is over taken I now have a 5min window to make the decision to continue the bidding or back off the item.

[Aquatic~Auction]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14994354#post14994354 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by datrueleo69
I guess to be bias, I do like that aspect because as has been said, I use the proxy bidding as well, however that doesn't mean that that will truly be the max I will pay for an item. With the process AA uses, if my proxy is over taken I now have a 5min window to make the decision to continue the bidding or back off the item.

Bingo!

[whowadat]

Yeah but a true auction doesn't work that way. The auctioneer will attempt to pump more money out of bidders but at some point the pressure is on for you to **** or get off the pot. You don't continually get a nice 5 minute window to mull it over, shoot at some of the big auction houses they are spending all of 20-30 seconds per lot, the pressure is on for you to decide quick.

With the window most folks will hem and haw and take the time to decide whether or not to spend another 5 bucks to bid higher. This works against the bidder who is looking to get a deal, if he feels that there is no deal to be had, he'll not frequent the auction - that's why auctions are successful in the first place, the buyer hopes to get a deal. Some brick and mortar auction houses get a reputation for moving too slow and they lose out on customers because of it.

Having run a successful auction house I understand that the relationship between the auctioneer and bidder are in fact adversarial, the bidder wants it for less and the auctioneer wants it to sell for more. To run a never ending auction benefits no one but the auctioneer and consignor, to suggest otherwise is balderdash imho. Having an auction end at a particular time, with the possibility of sniping, is no worse than the never ending auction. The same arguement about bid your max and let the chips fall where they may still holds true.

I knew of an auction house that ran nothing but phone bidding, the bidding didn't stop until no one placed a bid for 10 minutes. During the auction if you were outbid, they called you and asked if you wanted to bid higher. Sometimes these affairs lasted for 20 plus hours, they achieved some pretty big prices but it bordered on unethical in my opinion. Wait until the government starts to regulate these internet auctions, something like this style may not agree with the sanctioning/regulating board that will oversee them and they may be SOL. (I'm against regulation myself)

Now I recently won a coral from Aquatic Auction and was very pleased with the product and their high level of customer service. However I was on my last nerve waiting for the the guy who was nickel and dimeing me to death to get over himself and let it go. I will bid again but it won't be my primary source for aquiring coral as I just don't agree with the method of selling....why would I, I'm a bidder afterall looking to get a deal.