Questionable Bidding-Major Auction Houses?

[sportscentury]

I typically do not deal with any of the major auction houses but have started to lately. I have purchased from MastroNet - very courteous, professional and everything you could ask for. I have done some autograph business with Memory Lane and am waiting for my package to arrive on Monday as well as Vintage Authentics who I am also waiting on. We'll see how that goes. For some reason, I really don't trust Historic Auctions after hearing this but I can't really comment because I didn't bid in the auction and haven't done business with them.

Let us know what happens,
Tim

I did not participate in the Historic auction, but it sounds like there are definitely some issues they need to address. I regularly bid in auctions run by Mastronet, Lelands, and Grey Flannel (I also used to bid in American Memorabilia auctions quite regularly, but never again ... for a boatload of reasons that have been well-documented on this forum in other threads). Historically, I've been outbid in Lelands and Grey Flannel (which I believe is just a coincidence), though I've been fortunate enough to win several incredible items from Mastronet over the years, some of which have gone for amounts far under my ceiling bid. These experiences have certainly helped me to trust Mastronet (and I agree with Tim's comments about how courteous and professional they are). The issue of shill bidding in auction houses, though, is one that has been around for many years. You can't blame bidders for questioning this practice. I admit that it has crossed my mind with certain auction houses.

Reid

[allstarsplus]

I bid on several items in the Historic Auctions and won 1 item which was the Carlos Lee HR Derby used bat. I reviewed the items I got outbid on and wasn't surprised because my bids were average bids. Nothing I got outbid on seemed suspicious. My only issue with the auction was the same old problem of questionable items but you find those in every auction. Overall, I thought they had some great items, and I look forward to their Spring auction.

Like Reid, I bid on Mastronet, Lelands, Grey Flannel and of course eBay. I lost every bid on the Lelands Cardinals auction which I was very disappointed because I went way above what even the auction value estimates were and I still got outbid. This happens all the time in auctions.

My only bad experience I have had recently with an auction house which I documented on the Forum was with the last Geppi's auction where I was the high bidder but Jim Pratt told me that there were computer errors which showed me as outbid. I took him for his word that it was an error. In fact Jim said he was sending me a very nice gift as their apology for the error----which I still haven't received.

[Eric]

Eric,

Out of curiosity, how many "second chances" does a person get?

Reid

They get a warning and get a chance to fix it. If they don't, I'll assume they don't want to abide by the rules of the forum
Eric

[CollectGU]

I do find it interesting that on the night of the auction closing my original bid of $5,000 would hold from 9 PM - the official close time - until 11 AM the next day and then I would be outbid by more than double my $5,000 bid 1/2 hour before they decided to change the auction 15 minute rule and close the auction.

Also, has anyone ever heard of an auction house 15 minute rule lasting 15 hours because of people in Japan?

Dave

[sportscentury]

They get a warning and get a chance to fix it. If they don't, I'll assume they don't want to abide by the rules of the forum
Eric

Eric,

Thanks. I was asking because it has seemed to me that there are one or two individuals who clearly are not interested in abiding by the rules. I'm sure you know whom I'm referring to ... I know that Chris and you do an excellent job of making this forum a great place for meaningful and valuable dialogue, but wanted to share my observation.

As always, thanks for your diligence and for such a great site.

Reid

[Frank]

I do find it interesting that on the night of the auction closing my original bid of $5,000 would hold from 9 PM - the official close time - until 11 AM the next day and then I would be outbid by more than double my $5,000 bid 1/2 hour before they decided to change the auction 15 minute rule and close the auction.

Also, has anyone ever heard of an auction house 15 minute rule lasting 15 hours because of people in Japan?

Dave

I talked with them on the phone and when they originally set the rules where the whole auction continues 15 on each bid, they didn't anticipate it lasting past 4-5 hrs... Sounds like that is why they changed the rule. They also said they are going to figured something out for the next auction. I talked to James and he was really helpful. I suggest calling him if you have any questions. I guess all of this is just part of their growing pains...

[CollectGU]

Reid,

I'm just curious if you ar referring to me as one of the individuals, because it was my post that was edited....

[apujols04]

Eric,

Thanks. I was asking because it has seemed to me that there are one or two individuals who clearly are not interested in abiding by the rules. I'm sure you know whom I'm referring to ... I know that Chris and you do an excellent job of making this forum a great place for meaningful and valuable dialogue, but wanted to share my observation.

As always, thanks for your diligence and for such a great site.

Reid

Surely some of these people posted about my jerseys as well.......the people not abiding by the rules......people on this forum will hopefully all be held to the exact same standards.

[Eric]

Everyone will be held to the same standards on the forum. If anyone has questions about the forum rules please look at the main forum page. As always, I'm available if anyone has any questions.
Eric

[sportscentury]

Eric,

Thank you. Have an enjoyable football Sunday.

Reid