30 Sep
2010
30 Sep
'10
3:31 p.m.
On 9/30/10 5:27 PM, William Donzelli wrote:
Four or five years ago, I used to time my auctions so
that they would
end when people are likely to be home for the evening or in front of
their computer at work. I found there were two sweet spots during the
weekdays - 2-3 PM and 9:30-11 PM EST. These would cover the US quite
nicely. There was a real difference in hammer prices if I strayed out
of these two spots for whatever various reasons. This is no longer the
case. There are no more real sweet spots, and hammer prices are not so
dependent on timing, yet the last minute bids still pile up. This is
telling me that far more people snipe today than five years ago.
And, as an informal survey in my head, it seems that nearly all of my
friends snipe, including the ones that are pretty low key.
Don't forget the "smartphone" effect as well. With an iphone (or
other)
and a web browser or dedicated app, you don't have to be tied to your
computer or a network (other than cellular) anymore. Folks can
literally bid from almost anywhere now.