Ebay Live Auctions

[TNTtoys]

All,

I had a pretty harsh conclusion to an ebay live auction I participated in yesterday and want to find out if any of you have had a similar experience.

I had been looking forward to bidding on a lot that contained a game used Keith Hernandez Mets bat. The item came up last night.

I bid three times on the auction. The third and last bid I placed was for $300.00. Upon submitting my bid of $300, it was accepted (the green confirmation message was sent back to me), I was noted as the high bidder, and the price of the item was upped to $300.00. The auction closed soon after, but then it was REOPENED. The current price of the item was now $275, with my bid missing. Within seconds, a floor bidder placed a $300.00 bid and it instantly sold to them at that same price.
I then looked at the bid history, and there is now no record of my $300 bid nor the cancellation of it in the bid history.

I complained to ebay and they sent me a "tough luck" response:

Dear Nick,
Thank you for writing to eBay Live Auctions regarding item number
xxxxxxx, I would be happy to address your concern.
I am sorry that you did not win this item. There are many differences
between bidding on eBay Live Auctions and bidding on the main eBay site. It appears that the auctioneer chose a bid by a floor bidder over your
own. It is the discretion of the auctioneer that determines if the Internet absentee bid is accepted. If you dislike the way that a Live Auction event is run, I would suggest that you contact the auction house to discuss your concerns.

I have taken their advice and complained to the auction house, but have a feeling that this practice seems to go on regularly, ebay is aware of it, and there is nothing I could do. Furthermore I have no evidence to support that I was on top and removed.

[LHG39]

You know, I was actually watching at the time and was wondering what was going on there. I think these auctions are a little messed up.

I am also quite peeved about the Schmidt jersey. I wrote to Geppi's about it and am awaiting a response.

[sammy]

It appears from my experience that an auction company will take an in person floor bidder over a phone bidder or Internet bidder if the price is generally the same.

They will also reopen the auction lot if the floor bidder complains about not being seen or heard before the lot is closed.

Their logic is that since the floor bidder took the time and expense to come to our auction in person, that floor bidder will get preference over other outside bidders.

I've seen this happen may times.

I've actually had the same thing happen to me that happened to you.

[shafrancollectibles.com]

I concur with what Sammy wrote and will add that the auction houses do not have to pay eBay a fee if the item is sold to a floor bidder as opposed to an internet bidder. That said, the eBay Live buyer's premiums are now generally 5% higher than direct from the auction house which should cover those fees, but it is generally accepted that auction houses will accept a floor bid or in-house bid before an internet bid.

That said, it's a different ballgame if they accepted your bid and closed the item and then re-opened it to sell it at that price to a floor bidder. I would definately bring that up with the auction house directly - you deserve a better answer than the expected answer you received from eBay.

[sammy]

Well,

It happened to me again.

I was the high bidder on an item in the Geppis auction last night when the Internet bidding closed, with some extra in reserve.

The item sold for my reserve amount.

Received a e-mail from Geppis this morning stating I did not win.

What the **** is going on with these people?

If I'm the high bidder when the Internet bidding closes, and my reserve amount is what the item sells for, why didn't I win?

I always thought, and the auction houses rules generally confirm, if two bidders place the same amount in their bid, the earliest bid wins.

Geppis bites once again.

[allstarsplus]

Well,

It happened to me again.

I was the high bidder on an item in the Geppis auction last night when the Internet bidding closed, with some extra in reserve.

The item sold for my reserve amount.

Received a e-mail from Geppis this morning stating I did not win.

What the **** is going on with these people?

If I'm the high bidder when the Internet bidding closes, and my reserve amount is what the item sells for, why didn't I win?

I always thought, and the auction houses rules generally confirm, if two bidders place the same amount in their bid, the earliest bid wins.

Geppis bites once again. Sammy - I swore to myself that I wouldn't bid on another Geppi auction, but really wanted one of the Phil Rizzutto items so I bid on Lot 122 and bid $18,000 for my ceiling bid before the auction went live. The bid went from $12,000 to $13,000 and I was shown as the high bidder.

At the conclusion of the eBay Live they plugged those bids back into the Geppis system. For someone to outbid me, the next incremental bid would be $1,000 more than my $18,000-----well, it shows $18,000 as the final bid and auction closed---but I wasn't the high bidder.

I called Geppi's and got Spencer the manager and he concurred. He also told me Jim Pratt, the former manager was gone, and how screwed up everything was. He said he would get back to me. I later spoke to Steve Geppi who said that Spencer was FIRED! The new boss was Alan Croce (sp?). Alan blasted me and said I was not the winner and the auction was closed even though I had my confirmation.

I can't figure these people out!!!!!

This is an automated message to let you know that you are the high
(absentee) bidder on GMRS.COM on the following lot:

--- YOU HAVE THE CURRENT HIGH (ABSENTEE) BID FOR ---
Item No: 122
Item Description: LeRoy Neiman Painting of Phil Rizzuto
Your Absentee Bid Amount: $18,000.00
Current High Bid: $13,000.00

Your absentee bid for this lot will be executed by GMRS competitively with
live phone bidders and eBay Live bids during the live auction.

If you would like to be called during the live sale please call GMRS at
877-762-3749. If you do not wish to participate via phone during the live
sale, GMRS will execute your bids up to your maximum during the live
auction in accordance with competitive bids.

Live Auction
September 12th & 13th 7:00 PM EDT

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reply to this
email.

Geppi's Memorabilia Road Show
http://www.gmrs.com/

THIS IS WHAT MY AUCTION ACCOUNT NOW HAS IN THE LOST BIDS:


Items Not Won 1 - 1 of 1


« Previous Page Next Page »

PictureItem (https://www.gmrs.com/account_notwon.asp?Sort=-5)Description (https://www.gmrs.com/account_notwon.asp?Sort=1)BidsWinning Bid (https://www.gmrs.com/account_notwon.asp?Sort=2)Ended (https://www.gmrs.com/account_notwon.asp?Sort=6)
https://www.gmrs.com/product_images/17/L22320/thumb.jpg (https://www.gmrs.com/item.asp?AuctionItemID=22320) Lot 122 5 $18,000

[allstarsplus]

Do the math---they get an additional 5% premium when the auction goes LIVE if an eBay bidder is the winning bidder!!! Now, I realize eBay gets a commission too, but that seems like a nice windfall!!!!



Buyer's Premium

A 17% buyer's premium will be added to all successful GMRS bidders and is payable by the purchaser as part of the total purchase.

EBay Buyer
A 22% buyer's premium will be added to all successful eBay bids and is payable by the purchaser as part of the total purchase. GMRS reserves the right to restrict the registration of bidders.

[earlywynnfan]

I can't speak for Geppi's methods, didn't have any problems with them.

I attended Fusco's auction Saturday night, and he also used ebay live. Here's how he handled this situation: suppose one ebay or book bid was 300, but the 2nd bid was only 100. He'd open it up on the floor for, say, 125. He'd go back and forth between the ebay/book and floor bidders as high as they would go. now, if the increases worked out so that a floor bidder said "300", but this was only as high as an ebay/book bidder went, he would announce "the book has a high bid of 300, I'd need 325 to beat it".

I thought this was fair to all, and nobody on the floor grumbled.

Ken

[TNTtoys]

I can't speak for Geppi's methods, didn't have any problems with them.

I attended Fusco's auction Saturday night, and he also used ebay live. Here's how he handled this situation: suppose one ebay or book bid was 300, but the 2nd bid was only 100. He'd open it up on the floor for, say, 125. He'd go back and forth between the ebay/book and floor bidders as high as they would go. now, if the increases worked out so that a floor bidder said "300", but this was only as high as an ebay/book bidder went, he would announce "the book has a high bid of 300, I'd need 325 to beat it".

I thought this was fair to all, and nobody on the floor grumbled.

Ken


I participated in Fusco's auction this past weekend using ebay live auctions, and had no problem whatsoever.

The Geppi auction was problematic, and has raised a number of concerns by several members here. There were some closed items with clear winners that were later reopened and sold to different people -- for same or less money. When confronted, Geppi's customer service was less than friendly...in fact, they were insulting to one member here and arrogant to another. In fact, when I presented them with the facts of what happened to the item I bid on, they told me "I'm sorry YOU had a problem" and "well, that is your interpretation of the events." They are not sorry for their mistake? They are only sorry for my problem? And there was nothing to "interpret" -- there is a data trail of everything that happened within that auction. I would have been happy with a simple apology... not a grade school insult.

[trsent]

So, can we conclude that eBay does not have any control or regulations over eBay Live auctions other than helping their customers receive extra exposure?

[allstarsplus]

So, can we conclude that eBay does not have any control or regulations over eBay Live auctions other than helping their customers receive extra exposure?
Joel - I would agree with you. The sellers get tons of extra exposure and eBay takes a negotiated commission but does not have their typical control.

I have purchased items in other eBay Live Auctions and have never had a problem until this Geppis.

Still waiting for a reply from Mr. Steve Geppi.

Sounds like many of us had the same problem.

Andrew

[trsent]

Joel - I would agree with you. The sellers get tons of extra exposure and eBay takes a negotiated commission but does not have their typical control.

I have purchased items in other eBay Live Auctions and have never had a problem until this Geppis.

Still waiting for a reply from Mr. Steve Geppi.

Sounds like many of us had the same problem.

Andrew

Does anyone know if this may have been the first time Geppi's has used eBay Live and maybe they had issues with using their system?

[TNTtoys]

My story takes an interesting twist...

I came home from work today to find an email from Geppi's. They state that they made a clerical error during the auction, and I did in fact win it. They will be sending me an invoice shortly...

[allstarsplus]

That is great news for you. Wish the rest of us got the same call.

I can see that there is a lot of manual input going from the eBay Live system back to the Geppis system.

I also know that sh-t happens. What is bizarre to me is that I bid $18,000 plus a Buyer's Premium of 17% which is an additional $3,060 so $21,060 total, and I promise myself that unless I get some satisfactory explanation---I won't bid $00000 on their next auction!

I sent my 2nd email direct to Steve Geppi without a reply.

A real shame.:( :mad: