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When do you close an Auction

Samuel KellySamuel Kelly
in Questions 0 LikesVote Down
So question is, if one puts an item/items up for auction.
At an auction buy price that is a good listing price, to encourage bids, within 24 hours of the end no bids are made. Does one cancel the auction.
For $10 I would have thought these would be an OK bargain, I must be wrong
https://www.hipstamp.com/listing/great-britain-older-issues-7/12735854

ned931

Comments

  • 27 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • Samuel KellySamuel Kelly
    edited March 2017 0 LikesVote Down
    23 Views, $10, no bids.
    https://www.hipstamp.com/listing/great-britain-older-issues-7/12735854

    29 views, $10, no bids
    https://www.hipstamp.com/listing/jamaica-older-issues-used-29/12736219

    5 Views, sell $1, no bids
    https://www.hipstamp.com/listing/british-solomon-islands-10-bi-colour/12761358

    3 views 50 cents, no bids
    https://www.hipstamp.com/listing/new-zealand/12761418

    2 views, $1, no bids.
    https://www.hipstamp.com/listing/ethiopia-mint-hinged/12797158
  • Samuel KellySamuel Kelly
    0 LikesVote Down
    Now before somebody gets on the bandwagon and says, "well who the hell would want your stamps anyway"
    That's not the question. Question is " if one puts an item/items up for auction.
    At an auction buy price that is a good listing price, to encourage bids, within 24 hours of the end no bids are made. Does one cancel the auction.""
    ned931.
  • andrew Hellenschmidtandrew Hellenschmidt
    1 LikesVote Down
    I would let them run their course until they end. Auctions that tend to get the most bids have a starting price of .01 or .99 otherwise you generally only hear crickets.
  • Michael DuehrMMichael Duehr
    1 LikesVote Down
    No and the reason being is that when you start ending those listings even though they don't have bids,and buyer that may choose to come back and look at them again will see that it has been ended. Which makes for a very unhappy buyer. If you do it often enough they will quit looking at ANY of your auctions. (I myself would stop looking at your auction listings if you were to choose to end them like that,because your wasting my time to even look at them)
  • andrew Hellenschmidtandrew Hellenschmidt
    2 LikesVote Down
    The New Zealand lot has 1 watcher and the Ethiopia lot are nice. I don't understand why anyone would end an auction early unless there was a mistake or you have the patience of a fruit fly :smile:
  • Luree HughesLuree Hughes
    1 LikesVote Down
    Once again, this has been discussed. Why pull an auction early? Most of us will wait until the auction is almost over and then start bidding like crazy. You are not being patient enough with buyers.
  • Michael GeneraliMichael Generali
    1 LikesVote Down
    If you want to close an auction before the schedule end time, and there was nothing wrong with the listing, then why even bother to put it up in the first place? It has a published closing date and time. Would you want to go to a store at 7:00 PM that had a posted closing time of 9:00 PM and find out that it was closed? Close the store early, and people can't buy from you.

    Patience is a requirement in sales. Many people don't have that, and expect a sell-out almost immediately. It usually doesn't work that way. It is a well known fact that with online auctions most items get the most bidding activity in the last hour.
  • Dan ShilcratDDan Shilcrat
    0 LikesVote Down
    Over the few years I have been selling online.. e-Bay, Delcampe, & HipStamp I have had many 'Last Minute Surprises'. As a result..I would never close a lot early. I also consider it an Ethics issue. Frequently I Relist unsold auction lots & the second time around they catch the eye of a buyer. Mr. Generali & Luree are correct about the need for patience. I add to Mr. Duehr's point.. Consistent accountable store practices will create a happy customer base. Dan
  • Bonaparte MooreBonaparte Moore
    0 LikesVote Down
    Normally I place my bids about 10 to 15 min before auction ends. so if you shut it down< you would not get my bid
  • Samuel KellySamuel Kelly
    0 LikesVote Down
    Okay, I have all your thoughts on board.
    thank you all for your input, much appreciated.
    Sam931
  • Samuel KellySamuel Kelly
    edited March 2017 1 LikesVote Down
    Great Britain and Jamaica , no interest, such is life .

    23 Views, $10, no bids.
    https://www.hipstamp.com/listing/great-britain-older-issues-7/12735854

    29 views, $10, no bids
    https://www.hipstamp.com/listing/jamaica-older-issues-used-29/12736219

    Interesting though as the war stamps (Jamaica 2 of), would have been great stamps to add to a collection if one did not have them
  • Henry BrooksHHenry Brooks
    2 LikesVote Down
    I think the problem is that you do not give the buyer any idea as to condition or total catalog value of the lot. I see a grouping of 29 Jamaica stamps at $10 which is over 30 cents each. Without watermarking many of those stamps sell for between 8 and 15 cents apiece. The MR11 looks nice but MNH examples are under $3 and MH available at less than $1.50.

    I have no idea of what that $10 is buying. Take a look at Ebay early British colony lots and consider that starting bids are usually at a small percentage of catalog. There is a lot of 4 MH Jamaica Officials on Ebay with a stated catalog value of 60 pounds starting at $6.

    Just trying to be helpful here - if an auction doesn't carry some risk for the seller the buyers will be few and far between. You need to start them at a price low enough to hurt and you need to have enough at auction so the law of averages works for you. When I had an antique shop and dumped stock every so often there were items I paid $20 or $30 for that sold for $5. There were also items I had priced in the shop at $5 that went for $20 or $30. It evened out and I was generally happy with the final outcome.
  • Samuel KellySamuel Kelly
    0 LikesVote Down
    Hi Carol, I understand what you are saying.
    Watermarks, no idea. $10 is about 2 glasses of beer here in Australia.
    Obviously no one wanted to spend the cost of a couple of beers.
    You are trying to be helpful, no problem with that, much appreciated
    Sam
  • Samuel KellySamuel Kelly
    0 LikesVote Down
    On another point, catalog value means nothing, try getting a dealer to pay even half catalog.
    Any collector that thinks that the stamps they have worth a sell-able price at Scott, or any other Cat. listed price, dream on
  • Ted TyszkaTed Tyszka
    1 LikesVote Down
    Anybody past their 1st month in the hobby knows about catalog value vs retail. That is not the point of Carol's statement.
    CVs are a point of reference, and a useful one at that. If you are selling a lot of 30 stamps, at a starting bid of $10, it is useful to know if the catalogue value is $50, in which case the $10 minimum bid may be reasonable, or if they are all minimum value stamps, with a total Scott Catalog value of $7.50, in which case they are grossly overpriced.
  • Michael GeneraliMichael Generali
    1 LikesVote Down
    Why should (how can) a dealer pay half catalog or more for stamps when collectors won't even pay that much for stamps? A dealer can't stay in business selling at a negative. If collectors want dealers to pay more for stamps, then collectors have to be willing to pay full catalog for stamps. Also, look at what collectors try to sell to dealers. Small collections of nothing but common crap don't sell for much. Why should a dealer be expected to pay a high price for it? Would you?
  • Samuel KellySamuel Kelly
    0 LikesVote Down
    Michael, NO,
    Dealers pay bugger all, if anything.
    I purchased today Lord Of The Rings NZ$200 for AUD$70
    What did the seller get, I'll bet not much more than AUD$20
    Dealers travel all over the world to exhibitions, whatever, etc. Their business pays for that, plus getting a Tax reduction for costs involved.
    It's a wild process, and one has to understand, a high class well known dealer, that travels worldwide, expect nothing for what you send them
  • Michael GeneraliMichael Generali
    0 LikesVote Down
    Simple. Collectors, do you want dealers to pay more for stamps? The you'll have to pay more for the stamps you buy from them. If you're not willing to pay full price for stamps, don't expect a dealer to do that either. They can't stay in business by buying high and selling low. Yet that's what too many collectors expect and demand, or else they belittle the dealer. How about a show of good faith? Buy some stamps on this site from a bunch of sellers. After buying the stamps, notify the each seller that you want and expect to be billed for full catalog value of each stamp regardless of the seller's price. Then pay it, because that's only fair for a collector to do. Collectors who don't pay full value for what a stamp is worth are thieves, aren't they? After all, that's what many collectors expect a dealer to do, and they call the dealer a thief when the dealer won't pay that amount.
  • Samuel KellySamuel Kelly
    1 LikesVote Down
    No bids in 4 days of of an auction end that has 7 days
    yet there is 44 views and 4 have a watch,
    Place a bid, no bids , bugger off
    after 4 days, I delete the auction.
  • Mark RosenbergMark Rosenberg Staff
    edited March 2017 8 LikesVote Down
    Please note that in general, an item listing should only be ended early if there's an issue with the listing. As a Seller, If you regularly end listings early, your account will generally be flagged for an Account Manager to follow-up with you. However, we understand that sometimes there may be a valid reason why a listing is ended early.

    Ending auctions early will generally confuse and frustrate bidders and potential bidders, which is why it's not something we encourage, except in the case where there's an issue with the listing.

    Many, if not most, of the bids auctions receive are on the last day, and in the last hour. The number of watchers on an item is also a good indication of how many people may be waiting to place a bid.
  • [Deleted User][[Deleted User]
    0 LikesVote Down
    Sam, why don't you just start the auction at the least you want to get from it. What you are doing is pointless.
  • Ted TyszkaTed Tyszka
    1 LikesVote Down
    Or better yet, skip auctions completely and do set-sales only.
  • Wayne BuzaWayne Buza
    0 LikesVote Down
    I almost never place a bid on any item until the last day and usually the last hour.
  • Ted TyszkaTed Tyszka
    2 LikesVote Down
    Same here, Wayne. That's why there are so many watchers with no bids...yet. When you put an auction item on your watch list, you will get an email notification from HipStamp in the last 24 hours stating, "An item you are watching is about to end." That's when the watchers come out of lurking mode and into bidding mode.
  • Paul MolloyPPaul Molloy
    1 LikesVote Down
    Perhaps you should make it a one day auction?
  • Dan GriffithsDan Griffiths
    0 LikesVote Down
    Samuel, I'm a little confused about what you were trying to communicate in your first comment on March 21st to Michael. You mentioned that you purchased Lord of the Rings for AUD $70 and that you believe seller did not get much more than about AUD $20. I am baffled about where the about AUD $50 went to! Any ideas about where it might've went and/or who got it?

    Also, I didn't understand your comments about the Dealers. I'm not sure what "Dealers pay bugger all" means. I am puzzled about how your comments about Dealers are relevant to the post.

    Please help me understand, since I am down-under from you!
  • Ted TyszkaTed Tyszka
    1 LikesVote Down
    I think he means $20 net profit. The other $50 went into the cost of acquiring it, plus selling fees, plus PayPal transaction fee, plus cost of shipping materials, etc.

    Bugger all
    Sometimes hyphenated. A British expression meaning "nothing."
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