My highest praise - for Audiogon


All too often, we hear the negative. Of everything in life. But today, I wanted to put forth my story. One that is positive. Of excellent thinking, planning, and execution when it comes to customer service.

My highest praise. My deepest thanks and appreciation. For who, for what? For Audiogon auctions!

Last night, I was involved in an auction here on Audiogon, and put in my bid for about as high as I would go on the item. A pair of Manley SE/PP tube amps(fabulous amps, congratulations to their lucky new owner). It was bested close to the end of the auction. I decided to stand pat. I will probably go with a new Rogue Magnum instead. Just a judgement call, trying to use my head along with my heart. But, I did see a bit more activity, and wanted to see how things ended up. So, at the close of the auction, I tried to check the winning bid.

To my surprise, it went into OT. Cool!

It goes like this, if there is activity in the waning moments, it goes to OT. No sniping. The winner will be the true winner. The honest and fair winner.

I remember Audiogon's real time auctions back a couple of years ago. Very cool. My biggest complaint about auctions is how someone swoops in the last 5 or 10 seconds, and steals something I was set on. All's fair in love and war? BS. It's low down and cowardly. In fact, last year I lost a pair of black pearl earrings for my fiance on ebay. Believe me, if I ever come across the person who did this, I am still mad enough to tar and feather them. I honestly mean this. With all my fiber. They will pay...

Auctions should be where the person who wins is the one willing to pay the highest price. The highest bid. Auctions should not end precisely at a certain time, but should end once the highest bid has been submitted.

As I said, I did not end up with the amps, but I would have had I WANTED to. And, THAT is the only fair way to play.

THANK YOU Audiogon!!! You are doing it right!
trelja
I guess I'm one of those "snipers" that many of you seem to hate. I actually prefer sniping, to me it's the gentleman's way to bidding. It reduces the slow overtime "slug fest" in my opinion. Everyone gets a fair shot to place in one punch (or maybe two? I usually can) just before the auction ends. It's interesting to see who'll "go out on a limb" and proxy with the highest price. Exciting. Plus it helps keep the price down, since most of the activity is confined to the last few minutes (or seconds!). Overtime slug fests, just drive the price up. (from what I've seen). Wall flowers, like youself just love to bid and bid, driving the price up. I like to "limit" that wallflower factor. Keeps the price lower.

And as for the comment about just place your highest bid at the start, and stop with this sniping foolishness!. Ugh. That's the worth thing you can do. Nothing is sillier than the current bid aready at full MSRP with FOUR FULL DAYS LEFT in the auction. Yuck. I'm not made of money. I enjoy "esniping" those of you who are too conversvative to initally bid you full amount. I'd rather play a mental game with you than try to match muscle (read: money). Since I'm sure some of you gross much more than I do. It levels the playing field. Again, only seems to be a big deal to the wallflowers.

And as always, the highest bid wins. It doesn't matter if it was during the first 2 seconds, or the last two. If you lose, then someone wanted to pay more than you, plain and simple. Question: How is holding out your bid until the last few days or hours that much better than the sniper who uses the last few seconds? It's just about the same idea. In both cases you're trying to refrain from raising the price too early. The wallflowers, again show their clumsiness by still bidding too early.

It's just that we'll have to agree to disagree. You view my tactics are cruel, dirty, and underhanded. I view yours as slow, clumsy, and anachronistic. And not to draw an inappropriate parallels, but I think initially guerrilla warfare was treated with the same disdain. Executed properly it is quite elegant and a sight to behold. I've always been a fan of [SURPRISE] THEM, then hit then swift and HARD!!

Generally, if you can knock a (wo)man off balance, you are probably an order of magnitude more likely to kill them with your next blow - then had you not done so.

(If only I could make my posts as "swift and hard" as I preach, LOL. Then we might truly have something!!)

...from the desk of a known sniper.
I don't even want to know what Aroc does for a living... Aroc, do realize that a "wallflower" is someone who chooses not to participate? That hardly describes a person who "just loves to bid and bid", as you put it...

No one here ever said that sniping wasn't *effective*, just that they are against rules that encourage it (I'm not too concerned one way or the other myself).

I am, however, delighted to learn that if I ever run into you in some mercenary-infested equatorial jungle, you will behave like the gentleman that you are, and surprise me off balance, slaying me with one elegant coup-de-grace, rather than engaging me in some anachronistic, drawn-out slugfest that would only highlight my clumsiness. And I thought chivalry was dead...

LOL, since it's been 20 years since the first post I hope he's taken some auction anger management classes