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Pittsburgh, PA

What would you suggest be done to speed up some of the auctions? I like to follow them but my goodness, some seem to go on forever. My suggestion would be to limit the number of lots for one night and have a faster going once, going twice countdown.

Don’t beat me up for this but I can’t be the only one that feels this way.

12/16/2018 4:16:17 PM

Grittyville, WA

...Need a split screen for general chit chat and to ask the winning bidder how many lots they want... This would allow time for bidding but cut the overall time down.

12/16/2018 5:58:01 PM

Grittyville, WA

The silent auctions are good if you dont have much time. Swoop in five minutes before they end and bid away... Only takes ten minutes or less to buy some seeds.

12/16/2018 6:08:50 PM

Rapid City, SD

Raffle is faster......hint hint.....

BHGPG Raffle running right now

email me for a complete list.....82 lots

mattwiney@yahoo.com

Grow em BIG!

matt

12/16/2018 6:50:45 PM

Georgia

It is what it is in my opinion. I bet it is much harder to run an auction than it looks. If they cut the lots to only the really meaningful ones, then your going to lock out a lot of people that cannot afford to spend a $100 plus on seeds. There are already like 30 club auctions and 32 counting the ones with two nights. If every club had more than one night then auction season would be impossible to manage or attend. And the chit chat was much less than I anticipated except for the chat about Wisconsin men sleeping with their pumpkins.

Raffles make more sense in regards to time. You might want to check out Matt's raffle with 82 lots. I bet he will be done in less that 90 minutes.

12/16/2018 6:53:47 PM

Bloomfield, Iowa

Yes it is harder than you think to run the auction. Dave did Ohio with an average of 3.6 minutes per lot. That is good.

12/16/2018 7:53:12 PM

Bloomfield, Iowa

Also it appeared that some have problems keeping connected to the internet that can cause delays as well.

12/16/2018 7:56:40 PM

Grant, AL

Why not limit each lot to a two minute time limit. That would take care of a 30 lot auction in an hour. Save a transcript of the entire auction to make sure the correct winning bidders are notified and other specifics like how many sets the winning bidder wants on multiple set lots can be figured out after the auction. After the auction the winning bidders can state how many sets they want. The time limit would be similar to the silent auction format because it would allow a bidder to bid at the last second but it would limit the amount of time taken for each. We would just need a countdown timer on the live auction page that could be reset easily when a new lot starts.

12/16/2018 8:36:29 PM

Circleville

They aren't too bad, really. Count down a bit earlier. And when the gavel drops and you win, don't wait to be asked how many sets you want. clear up that exchange and there would be no need to change much else.

12/16/2018 8:55:24 PM

Grant, AL

Also, for the growers that come into the auction in the middle of a certainlot is there anyway to display the lot # and seeds that are currently up for auction so the people just entering the auction will know if that is a lot that they want to bid on

12/16/2018 9:05:45 PM

NE Arkansas

I think they run pretty good, I'm in the central time zone so they start at 7pm my time and if they last 3 hours they are over at 10pm. If you go too fast people don't have time to bid and that cost the weigh offs prize money.

12/16/2018 9:11:06 PM

Dillonvale, Ohio

I agree that some take way too long. Starting the count down quicker and doing it faster would help a lot. Ex:5sec after last bid,going once, 3sec,twice,3sec,sold. If no answer on # of sets, take notes & move on

12/16/2018 9:33:59 PM

Deer Park WA

I think speeding up the buyers bidding would make things much faster. For example, we get a bid and there are several subsequent bids then a lull and the going once, going twice, from the auctioneer starts, and then bid goes up again and the countdown starts all over. How about the bidders bid between themselves to their limit and then the auctioneer only has to call it once before the lot is sold? I agree with limiting the chatter too. All that said we had 45 lots over 3 hours which was an average of 4 minutes per lot.

What do you all think about the start times. 5:00 pm here on a Friday most folks are just getting off work but its 8:00 pm on the east coast.

12/16/2018 9:56:04 PM

Grant, AL

That is why I suggested the 2 minute time limit per lot. This will eliminate the going once, going twice repeatedly because all growers will know when a lot starts that it will run for two minutes only. So even if there is a lull in the bidding on a certain lot then that lot will end after two minutes and it won’t go too fast for growers to bid if they are paying attention and know the auction schedule as the auction progresses. As Gadberry said above if bidders bid their limit for auctions that they really want then things will go faster too!

12/16/2018 10:14:02 PM

Connellsville, Pa

I think they are running just as good as always. I see no problems.

12/16/2018 10:18:52 PM

everyone bid high right out the gate problem solved

12/16/2018 10:45:18 PM

Brownsville, MD

I like Don Young’s idea- we don’t need to have 20 different bids on a 2145 McMullen before it hits $200- stop kidding yourselves lol

12/17/2018 4:15:00 AM

Grittyville, WA

lol. But the little bids dont really slow things down at most they could cause minor distraction I guess. I think the idea of set times is interesting. If you were interested in lot 20 for example and each lot was given exactly 2 min you would know that lot would be ending at exactly 5:40. Another idea... I won some seeds via proxy bid last year thats another way to help your club, get the seeds you want, hopefully. But not burn your dinner or have your kids drown in the bathtub.
PGVG allows it... contact Steve D.

12/17/2018 7:23:32 AM

Georgetown, Ontario

Hold a Dutch auction. The auctioneer starts high, every few seconds lowers the price, first one to pull the trigger wins.

12/17/2018 8:03:20 AM

Grant, AL

If I am really wanting a certain seed in a particular lot and I know that the lot only lasts 2 minutes then I will be more likely to bid my maximum so someone doesn’t swoop in at the last second and outbid me if I bid less than my maximum. If I bid my max and someone outbids me then I wasn’t going to win that lot anyway. I also think proxy bids are a good idea. Display proxy bids at the start of the lot so other growers know the bid that they have to beat.

12/17/2018 8:05:23 AM

Griffith, In

It is such a want to control everything kind of world,,,You guys want it all. You want to control the amount of lots, the amount of bids, the length of bidding time, etc,,,Suck it up and accept the auction process for what it is. If you really have interest, you will hang in there for the lot you want to see. If not, go through the try to bubble process or silent auctions. Of course people are going to start low, I am like all of you in that I don't want to spend anymore than I have to. And this will be the case for some that just can't afford something, but want to take a try. Auctions are held to help clubs raise money for their prize fund, so lets just leave it alone!!!

12/17/2018 1:57:00 PM

Ellwood City, PA, USA

I really don't have a problem with the time it takes or the number of lots. The only thing I'd like included is a way to see which lot is currently being bid on at all times. When you have your eye on a few of the lots in an auction, you don't really want to watch the whole auction. You really only want see the lots you are interested in. This past weekend, I was watching the auction off and on, while doing activities with my kids. When I would check back in, I had no idea which lot was being bid on, until a new lot was up for bid or someone said something that let everyone know. In a chat format, this may be hard to change. I like the idea of a live auction format though.

12/17/2018 2:22:32 PM

Plymouth, MN

I like it when the organizers mix up the proven seeds/2100+ pumpkin lots with the other lots/2018 seeds/non-pumpkin lots. Shout out to Ohio for having their 2145 about 3/4 of the way through. I feel like the variety makes the early part of the auction more interesting.

12/17/2018 4:10:18 PM

Georgia

There has been no dilly dallying on the 2145 this year when Rodebaugh is in the house. His opening bids on the 2145 have been 600 and 350.

12/17/2018 5:06:42 PM

South Bloomfield, Ohio

Judy, you're a lady after my own heart.

12/17/2018 7:26:07 PM

SW Ohio

I’m with Judy. For a lot of clubs, the auction is their only fundraiser. Seed prices have gone down which means a club has to have more lots or multiples of lots to raise money.
You have the bidders that dont pay attention enough to state how many lots they want which slows things down and then there are the bidders who come in and immediately ask “what lot we on”. Instead of waiting a couple of minutes to see for yourself. Both of these situations are a sure way to slow down an auction and the club has no control over that.
There are silent actions, club seed sales, and raffles in addition to the live auctions. Lots of options are out there if you dont like the live auctions.

12/17/2018 8:53:22 PM

Zimmerman, Minnesota

It’s the fun of the auction....I’ve thought about the seed and have pulled trigger after the going twice and I don’t even need seeds...heck I’ve seen seeds on websites go for less then auction....it’s a rush, a game.....I’m going to get this seed and I don’t care what I pay for it. Remember this is for our clubs and weigh off prize money which we all go for....if it takes too long then go do what-cha need to do and they’ll be another auction next week.

12/18/2018 1:07:10 AM

UK Gloucestershire

It’s even worse for us across the pond. I was awake at 01:00 until 05:00 on the PNWGPG auction. Not ideal, but unavoidable.

12/18/2018 4:07:18 AM

Central Illinois

you dont have to come into an auction at lot #1 if you want Lot#20, gamble and take a chance with the amount of time involved in producing an auction they shouldn't be pressured to make it faster

12/18/2018 10:35:30 AM

Rapid City, SD

just my 2 cents worth.....run a live auction once......then you will see how much work it really is...then run a raffle.......lol........200 times more work

12/18/2018 7:33:33 PM

Circleville

I don't know about speeding up the auctions but, I have already received my seeds in the mail from Ohio Valley. That's pretty impressive.

12/19/2018 5:29:56 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

The clubs are hosting auctions to make as much $ for their clubs as possible, not to cater to a bunch of complainers. You don’t have enough time to sit through an auction and bid... try organizing one. Or a weighoff for that matter. So glad I took the year off from funding an event.

12/19/2018 11:36:48 PM

NE Arkansas

Organizing the GWG live and silent auctions this year has given me so much more respect for the guys that do this every year. I honestly had no idea how much work goes into sending bubbles, getting lots organized, list made, and everything else that goes into it. With that said, I say Thank you to everyone who sets up a club auction.

12/20/2018 9:40:19 PM

Syracuse, NY

FASTER seed auctions. Let's have New Year's and Christmas on the same day, too.

12/21/2018 4:15:36 AM

Upa Creek, MO

"The clubs are hosting auctions to make as much $ for their clubs as possible, not to cater to a bunch of complainers"

You want those max $$ from the complainers, but aren't open to suggestions. Seems like a great business model.

12/21/2018 8:20:12 AM

Eastern Pennsylvania

Luke, I’m out of the game. We are not having an auction this year so I really don’t need a business model do I?

That said let me go ahead and state what I think is a real problem with these auctions. A tiny club like ours sends a seed request to a grower for a top seed and is happy to get one seat back in the mail so we can put it up for auction. The week before Our auction, a big club has their auction and has three sets available of the same seed. And then later on in the auction season this club is able to have a second complete action featuring the same seed and three more sets somehow. Who is business model do you think is going to win out here? It’s like the little local store that can only afford to have one unit in inventory and competing against Walmart and Amazon unlimited Inventory. And all that while, our little club is literally living paycheck to paycheck. We can only afford to have modest price is offered at Our weighoff, And if we don’t have a successful auction… There IS no weighoff. It’s one of the many reasons why I just didn’t feel like dealing with it this year.

12/21/2018 11:15:37 AM

On a cliff in the desert

One other issue I see with auctions is that many auctions do not have proxy bids. I know it can cause problems BUT there are people like me who can't attend live auctions because of work schedules, time zone differences, etc. A whole group of potential bidders is getting shut out when there is no proxy bidding.

12/21/2018 1:36:31 PM

On a cliff in the desert

I look at the Pennsylvania auction. There are lots I would bid on but there is no proxy bidding. You're shutting out bidders that could help raise money for your club.

12/21/2018 1:41:44 PM

On a cliff in the desert

Have all the growers in your club grow diverse category auction size seeds for your auction. This will give you all the inventory you need to have multiple lots for auctions and seed sales. There can be low seed count for premium seeds and each grower has their own criteria for distribution of their seeds.

12/22/2018 12:45:37 AM

Syracuse, NY

What about 'Seed Buds', a new term, where rather than a proxy bidding situation, any grower that has trouble attending an auction can have another grower bid up to their own personal limit, and if it's someone you trust enough to get a seed at auction and then reliably send said seed in exchange for said winning bid---lotta trust, but, of course, on here, anyone whom did not hold up their end of...and, well, seed authenticity issues...naaah, we're all trustworthy. as everything on this planet was at one time, just an idea... eg

12/22/2018 1:14:39 AM