posted 04-16-2009 04:58 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by gliderpilotuk:
If the former means a bidder on the RS site then there were a lot of unsold items

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I think "on site" refers to live bidders at the auction house, not the bidders at the RS internet site.

It's interesting how absentee bids placed on the RS website always seem to start out at their maximum amount. Anyone else notice this?

posted 04-16-2009 07:06 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by DOX32:
...Alan, this is really POOR!

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posted 04-16-2009 09:32 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by mjanovec:
It's interesting how absentee bids placed on the RS website always seem to start out at their maximum amount. Anyone else notice this?

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posted 04-17-2009 02:20 AM            

What I mean is for Regency to post a 'Fake" auction of some items they already have auctioned. We all login and bid as realistically as we like. After a while, assuming they get the same level of server traffic as they had in the past, their system would be tested - and without any consignor's or bidder's finances being put at risk.

Assuming the test was positive, their next 'real' auction would likely be well attended.

I would offer the use of photos, etc. of the items I have won in the past - assuming they need an authorization to use them (I expect the images from their catalog actually belong to Regency and they can use them again if they wish).

It's unconventional, but to say the least, today's (and I suspect tomorrow's) auction was 'unconventional' to say the least. Frankly, if I was a consignor I'd be looking into nullifying my sale if I could.

Anyway, I think you're on to something and I would like to let Regency know that as frustrated as I was today, I'd rather try to help make things better going forward than let this usually wonderful source of Artifacts twist in the wind.

posted 04-17-2009 06:50 AM               

The other real BAD part is how the auction is manage. There is a start price that doesn't match with price that is write on the Regency Stamps list and the early bid is in general more interesting for the seller than for the buyer. This take price to the high which is not very great in my mind. There is many items that not sell I think due to this.

posted 04-17-2009 09:36 AM               

I had to install Firefox 3 and use it as a browser, with the plugin. The plug in gives little information to intelligently bid, period!

There are better live auction software out there in use (e.g. Fusco Auctions, ProxiBid to name two good live systems) after eBay Live closed.

Thank you for the reply, Alan!

Bottom line, there were some lots that got no bid, what will happen to them, or will they be reopened at a later date. Also, you can not see what sold or did not sell, and, using this current Live Auctioneers system. I did not even know my paddle number!

posted 04-17-2009 01:03 PM               

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Originally posted by JasonIUP:
So, why not be old-school about it and be a live phone bidder? I did that and it worked out fine.

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It's not as practical to stay on the phone and try to "watch" the bidding that way...especially if there are several lots you are considering placing a bid on, but don't know for certain if you'll bid until you see where the prices start out at.

posted 04-17-2009 03:40 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by mjanovec:
I found it a little odd that, in order to bid on Session 2, you have to register separately for that session.

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Phone bidding? ...ideal for those of us on another continent, not!

One of the big problems was the speed of the auction. I reckoned it was around 120 items per hour, which is amazingly quick. So quick in fact that several items were glossed over before I could bid. I hope some of the unsold items are re-offered after-auction for the benefit of consignor and buyer alike.

posted 04-17-2009 06:47 PM            

First off, most, but not all, of the "No Sales" that were shown as such during the auction actually were "No Sales". Whole swaths of the catalog went unbidden. In many cases I can attest that the website simply didn't offer an opportunity to bid as it couldn't keep up.

Some of the others are just strange. The Apollo 13 PPK (with a beta cloth patch sewn on it) couldn't raise a single bid with a starting price of $8,000, but the next item, a flown Apollo 13 beta cloth patch sold for $4250! Maybe the Live Auctioneers' system was paralyzed by the number of bids for the PPK, and simply loosened up enough for the following item to get some bids, but really, I would have expected the dealers to have been all over the PPK - which also had flown beta cloth patch scraps inside! Now that's definitely messed up!

After Lot 340 I pretty much gave up, having missed the first 100 items because I couldn't load the necessary software, and then I couldn't bid for beans on anything. But afterwards, the results continued to be 'odd'.

FYI, the old "Shuttle Blocks and Bolts" (Item #380) finally sold, for $55. The shuttle-era food was stolen at $100 each for Lots 401 and 402! The lovely Soviet Mir-era space hammer went for $750, way above the estimate of $200 to 300.

Overall it's hard to make sense of any pattern. One thing that showed up a lot was that items with high starting prices often failed to get bids. Valuable items without them seemed to get snapped up as bargains.

Case in point: item 218, those three lovely flown Apollo 11 orbital charts, went for just $15,000! I expect to see at least two of these on the block in the future for a lot more than $5000 each!

For those interested in the Apollo 17 checklists, the rover checklist (item 328) went for $3,000 according to the website, while my notes showed a hammer price of $3250. In either case, a far cry from the bargain basement prices obtained last fall!

posted 04-17-2009 08:28 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by MadSci:
NOTE: this is the link for the first lot – you just add the number of digits to the last number to get to the lot number you're interested in.

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Can you really see the hammer prices this way? I just see what the estimate and opening bid were. EDIT: I was having trouble because so few items show a completed sale.

I do feel bad for Regency that this auction was so frustrating for them. I turned in all of my bids ahead of time on their website since I knew I'd be teaching during the auction, but if others really had trouble bidding then Live Auctioneers really let them down.

posted 04-17-2009 08:47 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by machbusterman:
What I want to know is why lots that have absentee bids always start at (or the next bidding increment) ABOVE your maximum bid when there was clearly a much lower bid registered by an absentee bidder.

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posted 04-17-2009 09:35 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by MadSci:
FYI, the old "Shuttle Blocks and Bolts" (Item #380) finally sold, for $55.

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posted 04-17-2009 11:34 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by MadSci:
First off, most, but not all, of the "No Sales" that were shown as such during the auction actually were "No Sales". Whole swaths of the catalog went unbidden.

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I believe many of these lots did indeed sell...but to absentee bidders. But if no additional bids were received once the lot came up for live bidding, then no bids were entered into the Live Auctioneers system and thus the lot was registered as a "no sale." In fact, there were lots where absentee bids were placed on the RS website that resulted in opening bids greater than the high estimate...and those lots also ended with "no sale" notifications on Live Auctioneers. Any lot with absentee bids that meets or exceeds estimates should be a sale.

posted 04-17-2009 11:41 PM               

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Originally posted by stsmithva:
Oh my, I will be surprised, disappointed, and annoyed if they really did that. I put in several absentee bids ahead of time that were well above the opening bid. If they really started the bidding with my absentee bid, instead of a lower opening then working their way up to my bid (or possibly NOT work their way up to my bid, so I'd win it at a lower price) that does not seem like a proper procedure to me.

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All I know is that when I placed about 6 or so absentee bids in the auction last fall, every single lot opened at the exact maximum amount of my bid when it came up on eBay live...even if it was apparent I was the only person to place a bid on that item (as only one absentee bid was noted on the RS website...mine). I had naturally assumed bids would be handled as proxy bids, but that didn't appear to be the case.

posted 04-18-2009 02:38 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by machbusterman:
What I want to know is why lots that have absentee bids always start at (or the next bidding increment) ABOVE your maximum bid when there was clearly a much lower bid registered by an absentee bidder.

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quote:

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Originally posted by mjanovec:
As such, I will probably never place an absentee bid again unless I know with absolute certainty it will be treated as a proxy bid, not a fixed bid.

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posted 04-18-2009 04:14 AM            

That said, I do believe they state this policy on their website. I think it's a bad one sorely in need of change, but I don't think they're being unfair, just unfriendly to absentee bidders.

If this were not their policy, I suspect there would be a lot more 'proxy' biding by those unable to bid live. If it had been set up like this, then even this week's fiasco might have turned out better for everyone, as at least the pre-auction bidding could have been brisk and might have helped make up for the Live Auctioneers failures.

posted 04-18-2009 07:23 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by MadSci:
The lovely Soviet Mir-era space hammer went for $750, way above the estimate of $200 to 300.

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posted 04-18-2009 12:22 PM               

1. Regency-Superior WILL NOT be using Live Auctioneers in our future sales. We have already cancelled their use in our June and August auctions. We have even had to go to our printer to stop production of the June catalog to change the front-matter of the catalog to take this into account.

   Remember, the Live Auctioneer interface was not really live. It is a totally separate system from our own auction software and only becomes live at the time of the sale. On our own Regency-Superior website via faxes, phone bids, emails, etc. we had over 10,000 bids already on the “book” which was not reflected on Live Auctioneer’s website. That is way all the bids seemed to jump dramatically when they opened.

2. We will be using a truly Live Real-Time interface for our October Space Memorabilia auction. This will solve the access problems and the bidding problems related to what was sold or not, etc. It will also show bids immediately after they are placed only holding private the bidder’s high bid which will solve many of the other questions brought up on this website. Remember, the Live Auctioneer interface was not really live. It is a totally separate system from our own auction software and only becomes live at the time of the sale. On our own Regency-Superior website via faxes, phone bids, emails, etc. we had over 10,000 bids already on the “book” which was not reflected on Live Auctioneer’s website. That is way all the bids seemed to jump dramatically when they opened

3. We will keep collectSPACE and this message board informed as things progress and request your help in getting things right. We may not be perfect, but we do care. We will continue to pursue the best for our auctions and for the hobby itself.

4. If you have any questions at all about this auction or anything else. Please contact me directly at: alipkin@regencysuperior.com

posted 04-18-2009 01:14 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by MadSci:
That said, I do believe they state this policy on their website.

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Do you have a link to the page that states this policy? I looked for it, but can't find it.

If this is the new policy, then it has changed. I remember doing absentee bids in the past that were treated as proxy bids...and you could watch the bidding start well below your maximum and see the bidding increments rise on EBay Live until the lot was sold...often below your maximum absentee bid.

posted 04-20-2009 11:01 PM               

Lot Number: 664
1960s Massive Autograph Collection

Rarely offered early collection of over 60 different Astronaut autographs including a few of the Mercury 7, plus many from Astronaut groups 2-7. Among the many scarce autographs we note: See, Lovell, CC Williams, Ted Freeman, Bassett, Graveline, Michel, Bull, Givens, Chapman, many more. It is becoming more and more difficult to find original collections such as this today. Inspection highly recommended.