GreyFlannel Auction is Over!!!

[suave1477]

Hey Kids, its play time!!!

WHAT DID YOU WIN IN THE AUCTION????

Did anyone bid in the auction?

If so did you win?

and did you win at a price you were hoping for?

[worldchamps]

Wow the basketball jerseys seemed to do very well, I guess being tied to the Hall of Fame induction helped ( Barkley sixers jeresy, Dominque jersey did very well)....I might have dropped the ball on not sending in my Barkley.

The Gervin jersey went for over $20K, still have not been able to locate a picture that even comes close to that style of font on a Spurs jersey.

I bid on the Duncan jersey but did not win.

Bill

[sportscentury]

Jason,

I did not win anything. However, Richie kindly traded me the 1977 Steve Carlton road gamer that had originally been in the auction. GFC had pulled it from the auction after I notified them that the nameplate had been restored. I wasn't sure what they planned to do with it, so I contacted them after it was pulled. It is from Lefty's second Cy Young season and is just a killer. One of the finest Carltons I've ever seen (all original except for the nameplate). The trade was a great one for both of us. I'll post photos later.

Thanks to Richie and GFC for the transaction.

Reid

[suave1477]

Reid I am glad to hear you made out on that sounds good.
I love it when someone can walk away with a good deal.

I myself thought I did ok. I won the peice of paper with all the Yankee Autgraphs and Dimaggio family autographs.

Autographs that were on the paper:
Whitey Ford, Joe Dimaggio, Dom Dimaggio, Mel Allen, Tommy Henreich, Charlie Keller, Bob Feller, Vic Rashi, Lefty Gomez and others

[trsent]

Reid I am glad to hear you made out on that sounds good.
I love it when someone can walk away with a good deal.

I myself thought I did ok. I won the peice of paper with all the Yankee Autgraphs and Dimaggio family autographs.

Autographs that were on the paper:
Whitey Ford, Joe Dimaggio, Dom Dimaggio, Mel Allen, Tommy Henreich, Charlie Keller, Bob Feller, Vic Rashi, Lefty Gomez and others

Who is Paula DiMaggio and Emily DiMaggio?

[Oil Can Dan]

So I was going hard after the David Ortiz World Series bat. When I began bidding the bid was at $2,090, so I bid $3,300 w/a ceiling bid of $4,500. The bid immediately went to $3,600, then went to $4,000. I was on the edge of my seat clicking refresh, when finally I saw the bid go to $4,929. I thought about bidding $5K, but decided that I had hit my limit so I sat and watched the auction end. When it was over, I was sad, but felt that I had made the right decision.

Low and behold I just checked my gmail account and saw an invoice from GF for the Ortiz bat. I didn't realize they reserved the right to raise your ceiling bid by 10%, so I didn't even realize that bid was from me at the time of the close of the auction. I thought I lost, but now I realize I won. It's all very strange to me, and I'm not sure how I feel about it at this point (I literally discovered this ten minutes ago).

[trsent]

So I was going hard after the David Ortiz World Series bat. When I began bidding the bid was at $2,090, so I bid $3,300 w/a ceiling bid of $4,500. The bid immediately went to $3,600, then went to $4,000. I was on the edge of my seat clicking refresh, when finally I saw the bid go to $4,929. I thought about bidding $5K, but decided that I had hit my limit so I sat and watched the auction end. When it was over, I was sad, but felt that I had made the right decision.

Low and behold I just checked my gmail account and saw an invoice from GF for the Ortiz bat. I didn't realize they reserved the right to raise your ceiling bid by 10%, so I didn't even realize that bid was from me at the time of the close of the auction. I thought I lost, but now I realize I won. It's all very strange to me, and I'm not sure how I feel about it at this point (I literally discovered this ten minutes ago).

I know this practice exists in many auction houses, when you receive an explanation of how their system words, please elaborate on this forum. Not everything works like eBay as Grey Flannel was doing this (along with other private auction houses) before most of us know what eBay was.

[both-teams-played-hard]

It's all very strange to me, and I'm not sure how I feel about it at this point (I literally discovered this ten minutes ago).

Oil can,
After reading your post, I have decided NEVER to bid on a Grey Flannel auction. In my opinion, this is sketchy as heck. Simply ask for the names of the bidders you "outbid".

[Oil Can Dan]

I know this practice exists in many auction houses, when you receive an explanation of how their system words, please elaborate on this forum. Not everything works like eBay as Grey Flannel was doing this (along with other private auction houses) before most of us know what eBay was.
I'm not sure what you're saying here - what is it you want me to elaborate on and what do you mean by "when you receive an explanation of how their system words [sic]"? I'm not waiting on or expecting an explanation from anyone, and I'm not sure what needs elaborating on. I thought I made it pretty clear in my post that it was me that didn't understand how ceiling bids worked when I wrote "I didn't realize they reserved the right to increase your ceiling bid by 10%".

In any event I got the item I wanted, so I'm happy. And I (re)-learned a lesson - understand the rules before moving forward on something.

[Oil Can Dan]

Oil can,
After reading your post, I have decided NEVER to bid on a Grey Flannel auction. In my opinion, this is sketchy as heck. Simply ask for the names of the bidders you "outbid".
I went and read that thread by Eric from last December titled "Am I Crazy?". I thought about writing in it but decided against it. I was inclined to throw a stone at GF, but the fact of the matter is the rules are posted on the website and there's a somewhat logical path to the strike price of $4,929:

- I bid $2,300 (I had a typo in my first post - it wasn't $3,300) with a ceiling of $4,550 (again, I wrote $4,500 instead of the actual amount of $4,550)
- bid is at $3,300 after my bid
- bid goes to $4,000 (or so - don't remember exact amount)

So this could have gone from $3,300 to $3,630 (10% increase), then to $3,993ish (10% increase). I recall the number was $4,xxx, so it could have been $4,073. You add 10% to that and you get $4,480, then you add 10% to that and you get my final price of $4,429 (technically $4,428).

I hate the fact that we don't get to see the bidding history and that it's all under wraps, but I knew that's how it worked going into it so I don't feel I have the right to publicly question anything here. I don't really like it, and of the three items I've won via major auction houses each and every one of them came in right at the maximum w/o me losing. I find it odd, and the fact that it's all under wraps bothers me more and more the more I win at my maximum. Maybe I'll take a break for awhile until I have more confidence in the systems of the major houses, but I cannot blame anyone but myself at this point in time as I knew the deal going in.

Sorry for taking this thread off course here. It wasn't my intention.

[trsent]

An email I received from a forum reader read:

Joel FYI The auction house will not let someone win a lot without going a full bid increment. So if your limit bid is 4200 and the actual bid is 4000 they will raise you to the next bid increment which is 4400. That way you can not win a lot without the full 10% raise. Hope that helps.

I do understand this is how it works, so it is a known practice.

[trsent]

Also, thanks to the user who emailed me the link to this information right on page 5 of 9 of the Grey Flannel web site Bidder Instructions:

Ceiling Bids — Ceiling bids are simply the highest dollar amount that you would empower Grey Flannel to bid on your behalf for a particular lot. Grey Flannel Auctions strongly encourages you as the bidder to place ceiling bids. This is the easiest and most efficient way to ensure that you get the best possible chance to win your desired auction lot. Ceiling bids are kept in the strictest confidence. First, to place a ceiling bid, it needs to be a minimum of 21% higher than the high bid, which must be your last bid. (Example: Your new bid is $1,000, and the minimum ceiling bid that can be placed is therefore $1,210). Also, Grey Flannel Auctions reserves the right to raise your ceiling bid by a maximum of 10%. (Example: Your ceiling bid is $1,000 and the current bid is $950; we will raise your ceiling bid to $1,045). This ensures that no ceiling bidder will be outbid by less than 10%. If the same ceiling bid is placed on a lot by two or more bidders, the bidder who placed the ceiling bid first will have first priority to that bid amount.

[Oil Can Dan]

Not sure why those are being posted as, again, I explained very clearly in my first post that GF reserves the right to increase your ceiling bid by 10% and that it was me that didn't realize that. It seems you think you're clearing up some confusion by repeatedly posting explanations, and I can't quite figure out why. What's up?

The deal here is that somebody apparently bid $4,480 when I had a ceiling of $4,550. Therefore my bid was raised to $4,929.

[trsent]

Not sure why those are being posted as, again, I explained very clearly in my first post that GF reserves the right to increase your ceiling bid by 10% and that it was me that didn't realize that. It seems you think you're clearing up some confusion by repeatedly posting explanations, and I can't quite figure out why. What's up?

The deal here is that somebody apparently bid $4,480 when I had a ceiling of $4,550. Therefore my bid was raised to $4,929.

Right, I was confused with the policy but I knew it existed so I found all the details so when Both-Teams-Played-Hard comments, I have explained the policy.

Anyone know which other auction houses use this bidding method?

[sportscentury]

Joel,

I do not know the list of auction houses, but I don't think that this is that uncommon at all (I could be wrong, but I seem to remember seeing this policy in a few other auction houses' rules). It cann be tricky when you bid in major auctions because, even if you are ready to shell out your top/ceiling bid, you have to factor in:

a) Will my ceiling be bumped up to meet a full additional increment above the next highest bid?
b) What will the juice be (15%? 17.5%? 20%?) on top of my winning bid?
c) Shipping and insurance costs?
d) If you are in certain states, you may have to pay taxes.

If you're not careful, you can end up paying a good bit more than you had anticipated. I actually calculate all of this before I bid on any items... the problem is that by the time I'm done factoring all of this in, my bids often end up being too low to win!

Dan, congrats on getting the bat...even if you paid a bit more than you wanted to, I hope you enjoy it.

Reid

[spider9698]

Oil Can Dan
Tried to send you a private message. Please email me at sferzoco@partners.org.
Stephen

[indyred]

Have you guys got your stuff in hand. Just curious on how quick you get the item after there auctions? Would love to see the Papi bat up close. With crazy money his home run #50 ball went for, makes his World Series bat seem cheap. Any idea how many Red Sox world series bats player's got?