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Auctions: to settle or not to settle, that is the question
So 'auction' markets have recently become very trendy and a few questions have come up surrounding when they should be settled.
Take the following market for example:
Will a 1901 Honus Wagner baseball card up for auction sell for more than $100,000 at the auction's closing on 5/3/2008?
http://www.hubdub.com/e/Market/Will_a...
Since the current bid is at $200,000.00, it has been suggested that it's 'safe' to settle the market; however other users feel that settlement should wait until the sale can be confirmed (check out anaverageamerican's comment--#9).
Personally, I think that these markets should remain open in order to verify the sale and the suspension date/time should be most plausible (perhaps a 24 hour minimum?). Allowing these markets to remain open will ensure fluidity: users are free to buy out at any time and there is little risk of anyone making a substantial profit buying in at the last minute.
Let's work this one out. What do you guys think?
Take the following market for example:
Will a 1901 Honus Wagner baseball card up for auction sell for more than $100,000 at the auction's closing on 5/3/2008?
http://www.hubdub.com/e/Market/Will_a...
Since the current bid is at $200,000.00, it has been suggested that it's 'safe' to settle the market; however other users feel that settlement should wait until the sale can be confirmed (check out anaverageamerican's comment--#9).
Personally, I think that these markets should remain open in order to verify the sale and the suspension date/time should be most plausible (perhaps a 24 hour minimum?). Allowing these markets to remain open will ensure fluidity: users are free to buy out at any time and there is little risk of anyone making a substantial profit buying in at the last minute.
Let's work this one out. What do you guys think?
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Inappropriate?Hi Diana,
Thanks for bring the discussion over to GetSatisfaction.
First off, I think it is perfectly safe to settle the Honus Wagner baseball card question. Yes, it's an auction and it's not over until it's over. On the other hand the Robert Edwards Auctions site requires bidders to go through a rigorous approval process, including reference checks, and they do not allow bid retractions, so the likelihood of a bidder failing to honor a bid is minute. Here http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/t... are the Robert Edwards terms and conditions (note numbers 5, 6, 7, 22 & 23)
My comment #9, that you alluded to, was a response to _your_ comment #8, that stated, "if the auction bid rises above the market's goal--like it has done here--then it should be settled despite the risk that the sell might not be achieved in the end for whatever reason". The point I was trying to make is that all auction sites are not all created equal. While it might be safe to settle Robert Edwards auctions when the bid price satisfies the Hubdub question; you couldn't say the same thing about Ebay. So perhaps the rule should be that the market settles when the admins feel that there is minimal risk that the sale will not be completed.
Lastly, I must disagree about these markets being reopened. The Honus Wagner baseball card auction is definitely going to exceed $100,000. I don't see the value in allowing users to "predict" a foregone conclusion. I would prefer to have my predictions tied up until 5/3 rather than having these markets reopened.
Regards,
AAA -
Inappropriate?Thanks anaverageamerican, it looks like we can definitely trust the Robert Edwards auctions to be able to settle the markets ahead of time. Cheers for looking into that.
This is a fantastic point that auction sites are not all the same and it will be necessary to investigate their policies before settling.
As for the reopening of the markets, that won't happen. Don't worry. Generally, I markets are more enjoyable when you can pull your money out any time, but in the case of auctions, the market should be suspended at reasonable length from the time of settlement. I can foresee suspension times on these types of markets to be tricky depending on the market's circumstances, but we will work that out if need be.
If anyone has anymore thoughts or suggestions on these markets, it would be thoroughly appreciated!
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