Pedigree Auction - Any pickups?

[Gotham Kid]

I had books that somehow ended up just under my maximum bid.

 

+1

 

 

Doc

[Dano]

I had books that somehow ended up just under my maximum bid.

 

+1

 

 

Doc

 

Yikes. I didn't realize that. I've been tempted to bid - not anymore!

 

Dan

[Mark 1]

Something else to ask yourself is who are you bidding against?

 

I no longer buy from Pedigree cause frankly one guy in front of his computer watching?controlling the auction does not feel right to me.

 

I had way too many books that somehow ended up just under my maximum bid. So I'm not playing that game again. I dont care what's on offer. I'm out.

 

Can you explain more what you mean?

 

You placed a bid on a book and let's say your Max bid was $100. The book sells for $95 and you win it.

 

Are you implying that the books are being jacked up to just about your maximum bids by him?

 

 

[Doc Joe]

I had books that somehow ended up just under my maximum bid.

 

+1

 

 

Doc

 

Pete !

 

 

[Doc Joe]

Something else to ask yourself is who are you bidding against?

 

I no longer buy from Pedigree cause frankly one guy in front of his computer watching?controlling the auction does not feel right to me.

 

I had way too many books that somehow ended up just under my maximum bid. So I'm not playing that game again. I dont care what's on offer. I'm out.

 

Can you explain more what you mean?

 

You placed a bid on a book and let's say your Max bid was $100. The book sells for $95 and you win it.

 

Are you implying that the books are being jacked up to just about your maximum bids by him?

 

 

Yes

 

There is no one else around, every other auction house has other employees. If you are cheating they will eventually rat on you

 

Sorry but a single guy running an auction with a proven record of naughtiness is too much of a temptation for just about anyone.

 

There is not the sort of transparency that I would like in an auction.

 

Fine , buying books direct at a show, no big deal, if they are graded or whatever. Buying a book off the site at the asking price, fine, go ahead, you know what it is being offered at etc.

 

Auctions, different deal. Can I prove it? Of course not; at least not without hacker friends taking a look but that's probably not allowed so I won't do it. It's not $95 or $100 books either, much higher amounts. Like I said , I'm out.

 

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

 

 

[Gotham Kid]

Something else to ask yourself is who are you bidding against?

 

I no longer buy from Pedigree cause frankly one guy in front of his computer watching?controlling the auction does not feel right to me.

 

I had way too many books that somehow ended up just under my maximum bid. So I'm not playing that game again. I dont care what's on offer. I'm out.

 

Can you explain more what you mean?

 

You placed a bid on a book and let's say your Max bid was $100. The book sells for $95 and you win it.

 

Are you implying that the books are being jacked up to just about your maximum bids by him?

 

 

Yes

 

IIRC, when I won a copy of Iron Man and Sub-Mariner 1 CGC 9.8, the bid somehow jumped to exactly my max bid just before it ended.

[Mark 1]

I can only go by my experiences with the auctions.

 

In the last big Avengers auction, I bid on many books and was outbid on 95% of them. That auction was a consignment and was a big pay out to the person who consigned them so I know for a fact that it wasn't in his best interests to try any shenanigans.

 

This last Canarise auction, I bid on several books and again I was outbid on many. I even put in a rather aggressive max bid on an Iron man 13 9.6 and was outbid at the last minute.

 

Again this Canarsie collection is a consignment so I'm not so sure it would be in his interest to jack up prices and let's just use the word....shill the auction in some way.

 

I have no proof either so in a scenario like this you just have to go on your judgement and experience. I value your feedback and experiences....something I had not seen or at least been aware.

 

 

[Doc Joe]

And I want to be clear I did a lot of business with Doug, I like Doug , say hi to him at shows etc...I just don't particularly trust this set up. It would be too easy to abuse.

 

There are dealers that I trust to give sensible advise that is in my best interest and there are those that I like, they are salesmen and often very personable etc, but I don't trust them because I think they have their own interests at heart.

 

You see it in medicine, is this doctor looking out for themselves or the patient. I know these are comic book dealers not doctors but it's the same idea.

 

I hate paranoid conspiracy theories so sorry to partake in what may seem like one. Think about how you would set it up, you would not have every book end at just below maximum bid but for sure you could get 10-20% or more out of an auction than if it just ran. Of course one person has to actually be willing to pay that amount, they put in the bid to begin with. It's just ending up so close to maximums that I did not like.

 

[Bomber-Bob]

Doug's auctions are a reflection of his former collecting habits. Mainstream Marvel, Mainstream Marvel, and more Mainstream Marvel. Every one of his auctions look the same. It's really getting boring. I can understand Doug the collector only purchasing what he likes but as Doug the auctioneer it doesn't make sense. I think Mike's (Paperheart) comment that he won half the DC's in the auction is hilarious.

[mycomicshop]

Something else to ask yourself is who are you bidding against?

 

I no longer buy from Pedigree cause frankly one guy in front of his computer watching?controlling the auction does not feel right to me.

 

I had way too many books that somehow ended up just under my maximum bid. So I'm not playing that game again. I dont care what's on offer. I'm out.

 

Can you explain more what you mean?

 

You placed a bid on a book and let's say your Max bid was $100. The book sells for $95 and you win it.

 

Are you implying that the books are being jacked up to just about your maximum bids by him?

 

 

Yes

 

There is no one else around, every other auction house has other employees. If you are cheating they will eventually rat on you

 

Sorry but a single guy running an auction with a proven record of naughtiness is too much of a temptation for just about anyone.

 

There is not the sort of transparency that I would like in an auction.

 

Fine , buying books direct at a show, no big deal, if they are graded or whatever. Buying a book off the site at the asking price, fine, go ahead, you know what it is being offered at etc.

 

Auctions, different deal. Can I prove it? Of course not; at least not without hacker friends taking a look but that's probably not allowed so I won't do it. It's not $95 or $100 books either, much higher amounts. Like I said , I'm out.

 

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

 

 

 

 

I understand why people might distrust Pedigree, but I think there's an explanation for why you'll win at your max bid more frequently with Pedigree's format than with others that doesn't involve any wrong-doing. I don't know the exact increments off the top of my head, but Pedigree has fairly large bid increments compared to other auctions, so that's going to lead more frequently to you getting pushed to your max.

 

Example:

- You're high bidder at a current bid of $500 and your secret max bid is $550. Say the bid increment at that price level is $25.

- The next person to bid has to enter a bid of $525 or more. ($500 + $25 increment)

- If somebody enters a bid of $525, their $525 bid plus the $25 increment will push you up to your $550 max. So even though there was a $50 gap between the current bid and your max, it only took one bid to push you to your max. Any bid between $525 and $550 would have the same effect--pushing you to your max of $550.

 

Compare that with the same situation but with a smaller bid increment of $10.

- With current bid of $500, the next required bid would be $510.

- If somebody bids $510, then add the $10 bid increment you're now the high bidder at $520, still $30 below your max.

- You only get pushed to your max if somebody bids $540 or more.

 

Combine the large bid increments with the fact that many bidders are making decisions based on the same GPA data and arriving at very similar numbers for how much they want to pay--it doesn't surprise me that many auctions could end pushed to your max. If you're bidding significantly more than GPA on many items and still frequently ending at your max, then that's more suspicious.

[mycomicshop]

Oh--and the flip side of the large bid increments is that once you do get pushed to your max, it's less likely that somebody will bid a little more than you, assuming your max bid is at/near the assumed market price. If you're at $550 and the bid increment is $10, maybe somebody's willing to go $560. But if the increment is $25, there's less of a chance that somebody's willing to go to $575, even if they would have been willing to do $560. This is an inefficient auction result--the item sells for $550 even though one of the losing bidders would be willing to pay $560.

 

So a large bid increment has two effects:

- makes it more likely that the underbidder will push you up to your max without leaving a gap

- makes it less likely that somebody will bid just a little more than you and cause you to lose the item

 

Some interesting theory about the effects of bid increment size:

 

https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/26501/theeffec.pdf?sequence=1