How Do You Feel About Public Auctions Without Live Viewing?

I just picked up my 2 key lots and an extra one for less than low estimate in each case. They were having a few glitches but it was their 1st time Live so I thought it was a good step forward and I hope they stay with it.

NEVER---EVER ---NEVER ....leave a maximum bid with a stamp auction firm.

You will get the lot at your maximum bid or one tick off the max.

I learn that lesson with my money ....there is one firm if I meet the owner it will be worth a few days in jail after we discuss this subject .

The biggest problem with the videos was that the cellphone or camera they used was VERY poor. The color gamut was poor, resolution was low, and it did not appear to be any image stabilization. It was like cellphone video from 5 years ago.

I can understand not wanting to invest in high-end camera equipment, but you don't have to go to that extent. Current smartphones are capable of 1080P video (in many cases 4K) and have extremely wide dynamic range and sophisticated image stabilization.

If I were doing this type of work I would set up in a well lit room with indirect lighting to avoid glare or use diffusers. Set up the phone on a tripod or copy stand to keep it stable and frame the image large enough that you could turn pages and show both sides of an album without moving the camera. Instead of putting stamps and albums on a table and walking around with the camera/phone, you keep the camera fixed and move things into or out of its field of vision.

Much better results.

That was the most time I've ever hit the 'uncle' button while bidding during an SAN auction. All the lots I wanted flew by my max almost as soon as the bidding started, except for one that I picked off near the end. All in all, an entertaining way to burn a day and I hope the results were such that DCA sticks with live bidding in the future. My only other comment is: would someone puhleeze hand the auctioneer a glass of water...

"I flat refuse to bid on any Dutch Country Auction because they shut off phone, email, and on-line bids an hour before the auction ends. Live bidders can easily outbid you."
So you don't think they can outbid you if you are live too?

eyeonwall: Sure they can, but with live bidding, at least I have the opportunity to bid again on the spot.

revenuecollector: I was surprised to learn DCA did this auction live. I had checked their auction listing about a week ago and it still had their stock notice about ending email and internet bids one hour before the live auction started. I've won items from them before, but lost many others due to the one hour limit. I'll bet that as soon as they can reopen to live visitation they'll revert to the one hour limit. I'll still avoid them. It's my money; I'll spend it where I feel welcome.

uboatnut - That notice was posted right up to today's part I of the auction. My guess is DCA uses that hour to gather and set the opening bids for the live part of the festivities, regardless be it floor or internet live bidding. I can see how a bidder might lose out if there is only live floor bidding, but the playing field has now changed with live internet bidding being offered (everyone can play). I for one hope they keep the internet bidding. If not, I probably won't be bidding again either, today having been my first time out with them, strictly because the option was available.

I did not bid on anything, but listened to DCA live stream. I didn't love their style as there were more than a few lots that were not smoothly handled. The conspiracy theorist in me, felt a bias and that all lots were not created equal. Things like pauses, asking for bids after seemingly none, repeating, and magical bids felt like some signaling...

A good auctioneer should at least feel consistent.
I'll tune in to subsequent ones to see if this is a first go learning thing for them, or something problematic.

Btw, I have bought from them, for items I really wanted, but generally not a super fan of their rules for remote bidding.

Active Server Pages error 'ASP 0113'

I wrote a lengthy post which was lost. I ended up with this instead:

Script timed out

/post_info.asp

The maximum amount of time for a script to execute was exceeded. You can change this limit by specifying a new value for the property Server.ScriptTimeout or by changing the value in the IIS administration tools.

rogdcam,

Safe bet is always copy your post to the clipboard before you hit submit here any time you post or reply. It's easy to forget in the heat of the moment, and more than once I've gone "Dadgum it!" (or something more colorful) when I lose what I wrote to a timeout error or "too many connections" error.

My supposition is that unless there's major recoding done or a change in database types (both unlikely to happen due to time or expense), this will persist.

You just have to train yourself.

I put in a couple of bids on Dutch Country well before the auction, then while it was live I upped my bids but apparently they were not accepted so I was out of luck. Probably a good thing anyway as it seemed the lots were going for way more than what I thought they should.

Roger,
Yes the error message is wrong, working on changing this to "Your reply was far too long, try again"
Don

Today's bidding on Dutch Country is fierce and brutal as the previous auction even without a live audience. Lots with $600-800 estimates selling for $4000+. So many of my bids were not even close, but I did snag 5 bottom feeder cover box lots of mishmash.

I was watching the cover lots and I sympathize with you. I'm hoping it was just the covers everyone wanted.