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Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Ok, its that time of year. Several things annoy me, and I am sure, annoy other growers too. Feel free to add to the list. Not trying to be rude, but if you do any of these, just a heads up.

1. I dont think any seed or lot of seeds EVER sold for $5, so dont start the bidding so ridiculously low. No seeds in both nights of the GPC sold for less than $35. Try starting around 20-25 dollars. If you are bidding on a 998, try starting somewhere around $200, a 1068...at this point, I dont know, $800.

2. Auctions are not for chatting, so if you want to chat, ask another grower to go to a different chat room...and if you type a message to another grower and feel bad about talking during the auction, dont send 3 more messages apologizing for it, lol.

3. If you cant afford to pay $50, $100, whatever for a seed/lot, don't bid. I dont think anyone should be able to say $50, then later say, I retract my bid. If you say $50 and win, you must buy it. Thats how auctions work.

Thats all I have for now, I am sure this thread will get some more postings.

12/12/2007 2:01:45 PM

[email protected]

I started the first seed auctions with the PGPGA about 7 or 8 years ago and have learned several things.

1. It helps to do a week's worth of prebidding by email through the organization's website. This gives the auction a starting (and even sometimes end) bid. However I do disagree with you and if an auction wants to start at 5 bucks, let it. It is up to the auctioneer to get the bid rolling and also to keep the lots from taking more than 5 or 10 "deemed" minutes per lot.
2. Always become very aware of who is bidding. If there is an unknown person bidding, politely ask him his name and email you his pertinents. It is a rarity we ever get burned by this, but you should try to cover your butt.
3. I have run over a dozen auctions and found that this community of bigpumpkins.com is amazingly wonderful when it comes to keeping the chat to a minimum. To have over 100 people in a chat and while one seed is being bid on to have no one but the bidders, auctioneer, and stat man for the lots say anything is awesome. Ken and John will color up the only people who should be talking through the auction (moderator so to speak) upon request.

Yeah, once in a while auctions can be trying, but keep up the great job you people do when bidding.

12/12/2007 2:23:54 PM

Mn

i got to agree with lisa....If you are not quick on the bid it's your fault. I will give a few exceptions with having a slow conection or getting booted out. But i do believe the auctions could be speeded up.

12/12/2007 3:44:08 PM

Boulder County Colorado USA planet Earth

I agree with lisa.

12/12/2007 4:18:11 PM

Northeast

.........

12/12/2007 4:20:58 PM

Ohio

I like a good joke every now and then at a auction, it keeps it entertaining, I remember the auction last year that Ron was the Auctioneer, I laughed my ssa off the entire time yet had fun but the auction part was still serious.

12/12/2007 4:52:09 PM

Minnesota

Tick Tock... Hell I got a full lot ahead of the auctioneer, Still would like to see the transcript for my sanity but I coulda swore they were done and someone had already started bidding on the next one? lol Then all of a sudden they were tick tocking away.. Completely won the wrong Lot which I rescinded (Not due to $$ but confusion).. I think 1 auctioneer and 1 Statman would be sufficient as it seems the only chatting going on is by the auctioneers themselves.. Still alot of fun to watch and participate though...

12/12/2007 4:53:11 PM

Ohio

I think it would be hard to speed up a auction unless it was in person, doing it through a chat room has to be a chore in itself espically trying to work with your partner who is also there to help sell the seeds.

12/12/2007 4:56:22 PM

Ohio

,,,,Tick,,,Tock,,,,,,,lol!!

12/12/2007 4:58:14 PM

Roselle, IL [email protected]

We tried a reverse auction last year, starting at say $50 and working down or up from there. The bids did not come in fast enough when we reversed. Most of the time we exceeded the price we started at- This slowed things down.
I don't do tic toc, pause or .... this bugs me. So does people showing up late and asking what lot we on?
Just a quick going 1x 2x SOLD! The bottom line, bid fast and often this speeds things up.

12/12/2007 5:01:46 PM

Rexburg, Idaho

I got to love the line "what lot are we on?" It happens multiple times every auction. Just wait two seconds and 95% of the time they will tell you.

12/12/2007 5:23:26 PM

South Bloomfield, Ohio

Safehouse,

I watched the bidding and it went as they said it did. Everyone else knew which lot they were on. No sweat, though. Things happen and the the auctioneers worked with you. Everything worked out in the end.

And tick tock is also my grievance with the process. Also, an occasional line of wit is welcome. However, twenty lines of response to it tends to slow things down, so I understand the "no chat" part.

12/12/2007 6:54:27 PM

Rapid City, SD

just my 2 cents worth......for all it is worth....the auctions i enjoy very much......a little chat is ok.....but chat when the price of the seeds gets up there i think to the respect of the few that bid on higher priced seeds..........the chat should subside......i have helped with an auction once.......it is very overwhelming to keep up to speed.......all in all........most auctions run very well........goood job to the hosts of the auctions......it's high stress to complete the auction.....i really think there is a better way of letting folks know that the auctioneers are aware with-out using the tic toc.......once of twice.....well ok.....but prefer......looking left.........looking right......last chance...........sold.......but in less than 30 seconds

12/12/2007 8:01:26 PM

Minnesota

Well my Grandpa and Uncle were both auctioneers and seeing the auctions here reminded me of them, I enjoyed it very much.

12/12/2007 9:22:28 PM

[email protected]

I enjoy serving as an auctioneer but there are some things that make it tedious. So from an auctioneer's perspective:

"What lot are we on?" LOL...If a player comes into the auction, a good auctioneer will re-post the Lot#.

Don't say "Hi" when entering an auction. More than 100 people just saw you come in. We aren't being rude. We're being courteous to those other 100 people who were on time.

It's good to know folks hate the tic...toc...thing. As an auctioneer I hate it too. It's just one more time consuming thing to do so getting rid of it is cool. "Looking left...looking right" is cool but takes too long to type. I say scrap the whole thing & just call. There are some valid bidders who are just too S...L...O...W... on the trigger. We try to pace the tempo fast early but if folks bid slow we do slow down to avoid losing them & their money. Bid faster & it won't be necessary. LOL

12/13/2007 12:16:55 AM

[email protected]

PLEASE DON'T BID UNTIL THE NEXT LOT IS ANNOUNCED. It causes crazy confusion. Chances are very good that the auctioneers are trying to record the last lot & the early $5 & $10 bids are causing the screen to roll which makes the job more difficult. I always ignore every bid that comes in before we announce the START of the next lot any way...especially bids lower than $20. Its a fact that the first person to place a bid fails to win the lot about 98% of the time. The 2-3 people who regularly DO win with an early bid are notorious for knowing exactly what they want & GETTING it. You won't beat them with $10. LOL

Multiple seed lots: Bids under the current high bid are ALWAYS ignored if I'm working the auction even if that means not selling a set. We know WHY folks try to do this. Why try to dupe anyone? We can always review the transcript so blowing smoke won't help.

Repeatedly coming in & leaving the auction. The screen can be minimized without leaving the chat room. How is it that the auctioneers almost never get booted out of chat but certain non-bidding spectators enter & leave 6-8 times in 30 minutes? Do folks realize how hard it is to run an auction with all that mess on the screen?n Jeez.

We use multiple auctioneers for some obvious & some not so obvious reasons.

Another set of eyes to catch mistakes.
Post stats.
User the can.
Get another coffee.
Let the dog out.
Say good night to a child or spouse.
Get up & stretch.

Here's somes tip that help keep things running smooth & make the auctioneers like you:

>Know your limit before bidding & raise fairly close to it early. Saves time & intimidates the heck out of your competition.
>Saying "out" when you know you're finished. That's cool. We can close faster if it was down to just two bidders.
>NOT bidding or chatting after a lot closes. The screen holds & the auctioneer(s) can record stuff more quickly.

OK...that's enough gripi

12/13/2007 12:17:07 AM

Little-TON - Colorado

Thanks Tremor, great posts here, some of the coming and going on the auction is due to low speed dial-up connections, NetZero times out the connection after so long just watching not browsing, so high speed is no doubt an advantage. It was a experience watching the auction run from Niagara last year too, lots going on, ....... Some day in the not to distance future we will be video conferencing...that ought to be fun.......with new rules too.......lol

12/13/2007 9:40:45 AM

Ohio

I dont know about anyone eles but I can only stay in the chat room for about 5 to 10 minutes before a chat error comes up in small black letters, it then freezes me up and makes me reboot the chat. Anyone eles have this problem with dial up?

12/13/2007 9:44:29 AM

Ontario, Canada.

Great thread Jordan and all. Wiz, you are very right. I ran that auction for Niagara last year with a jamming computer. We had three on table for the net and two on the floor and another record keeping person. It was indeed a very stress filled evening.

If all of the points listed above are followed auctions run much smoother.

The prep time getting ready for an auction is another of the more challenging parts of this. The collecting of emails, finally mailing the seeds and securing payment all contribute to a massive work load for the vendors involved.

The last thing any of us want is for a problem to develop.

12/13/2007 10:01:15 AM

maine USA

I have participated in a couple of auctions and had a problem with my bid being seen on the screen for several seconds. I have dial up and when there are so many people in chat it is even slower than normal. Last year I had the high bid, but it came a second or two after close. One auctioneer gave me the win another gave the real winner the win. It caused a lot of confusion.

12/13/2007 12:07:20 PM

Little-TON - Colorado

Yup happened to me too, high speed is the way to go....

12/13/2007 12:50:11 PM

Puyallup, WA

Bottom line......seed auctions in the BP chat room are less than perfect. There are several reasons why the screen may run slow. You may get frustrated and swear at the screen.....or even the auctioneer......neither of which accomplishes anything to speed things up. If you have a slow connection, you are at a disadvantage...period!
If you really want a particular Lot, then bid no later than the "Going once..." when the auctioner calls.
Personally, I find that the auctioners tend to "drag things out too long"....but that is just my preference.
In other words, "He who snoozes, looses"!

12/13/2007 1:09:30 PM

Long Island,New York

How about when you're about to win a lot that the auctioneers think is too low a price and they change the whole lot by adding a "735Pukos" or "869Calai"....I see that as totally unfair. It changes the whole complection of the lot and does what the auctioneers actually wanted...spurs more interest and higher bids...but where does that leave the bidder of the original lot? God forbid the bidder change his mind and want to retract---he's branded for life as a deadbeat. Whats good for the goose is good for the gander....a lot is a lot....keep it the publicized lot.

12/13/2007 3:17:53 PM

[email protected]

I am inclined to agree with Glenn. I've hosted auctions where a well intentioned individual "adds a seed" to a lot which then places the original lot out of reach for someone who only wanted the orignal offering.

Maybe we should only add new lots as these offers come in rather than adding the new seed to an existing (published) lot.

12/13/2007 11:08:46 PM

[email protected]

I didn't know folks still use dial up until Andy & I worked the GPC auction together the other night. He's on dial up & it worked pretty well for him.

12/13/2007 11:10:42 PM

[email protected]

In a similar situation, I have been known to add an entire lot to accomodate a duo locked in battle. For example, if they were both locked at 150 bucks for an 805 Pukos, and I know the club has a few of them in the seed bank, I will ask both parties of they would like one for that price and make it a duo lot. The PGPGA has never added a seed to a lot, but has always tried to accomodate.

Excellent thread here.

12/14/2007 11:11:41 AM

Western NY

Yep, there's a few of us that still live out in the wilderness. 2 nights for a total of about 8 hours, and the connection didn't drop.

10 bucks a month.

12/14/2007 11:29:45 AM

[email protected]

I like G's coments, they are very valid, If I'm bidding on an 845 Bobier for example, and that's the seed I want, the add on only makes me spend more or decline from further bidding.

Also what I'd like to see is a Pre registration for bidders, If your planning on bidding, the club or group should already have all your info, ie: Name Address, phone number, and email address.You have to do it anyway.

Eddy

12/14/2007 12:03:07 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

Great point Iceman...to have to leave an auction, to give info, is necessary, I guess...but also takes a bidder away from the auction....cant bid if you are sending info. Flip side is...some folks (me included) bid on the spur of the moment. Peace, Wayne

12/14/2007 12:27:22 PM

Santa Rosa California

i like posting the results after lol

12/14/2007 1:17:38 PM

Pumpkintown, SC

I just hope they don't start getting too stuffy and impersonal and too business-like. Obviously they have to be conducted professionally but I think they have always been fun and would hate to see that fade away. BF

12/14/2007 7:34:59 PM

[email protected]

Eddy's preregistration idea is awesome. Things often get really weird AFTER the auction.

We've had some decent folks end up looking like deadbeats all because of a hyperactive spam filter.

Likewise we've had some bidders take 3 emails to finally disclose their full mailing address (and still no phone number) despite very clear pre & post bid instructions.

Pre-registering would really make the post-auction world MUCH easier to live with.

12/14/2007 11:56:00 PM