#2 dookie option is effectively a losers premium. Been to 100s of auctions, never seen or heard of such a tactic used to either keep bidders bidding or effectively shill up the amount and activity by forcing a price on people for participating per machine.

It could mess up the bidding enormously. If 10 people want to bid using Option 2, that means 8 of them will lose their $50 no matter what. Then what happens when the winning bidder backs out? Ugh...

Wonder what the pickup timeframe is if you win a remote bid?

*edit* WHY AM I EVEN ASKING THIS. I'M ONLY INTERESTED IN ONE GAME AND I DON'T WANT TO SPEND MUCH AT ALL, AND ALREADY TURNED DOWN THE HELP OF SOMEONE THAT OFFERED. IDIOT.

EDIT: Subject already covered.

Normally if winner backs out they go to second highest and try to get him or her to buy it at their last bid.

Would that mean the next-next-highest-bidder would then not owe $50?

Ugh. Could be a mess.

Should keep the auction KISS, not try this now. Delays, hickups, and lack of experience in this format will cause on site buyers unjust delays, confusion and ultimately I think make folks feel they are being hustled and shilled. Not a good thing, and ultimately I think it will serve nobody at all well, including the family and the auctioneer's reputation.

Per what the OP put out #2 bidder is okay (as I read it) but don't be anything else but the winner or number #2 if you are not planning on putting out $50 per each game you plan to bid on and are not #1 or #2.

I have also never heard of this $50 thing, on-line bidding is good for them (the auctioneer) it potentially means more bidders, higher hammer price. I know there is some work involved on their end to do on-line bidding and I think hence there is where the problem is, they haven't done it before and yes at $50 bucks a pop for each bidder for each game they bid on that can drive them away. So it could be a good thing for any one on-site.

Option 2 - We will assign you a live bidding assistant that will call you before your selected machine comes up for bid. The assistant will stay on the phone with you and submit your bids while you watch on a closed Facebook Live Feed. For each pinball machine that the Buyer wants to bid on, they must submit $50 per machine. Buyers are reimbursed the $50 per machine if they purchase the machine or are the second high bidder on the machine we bid on for them. If not, we keep the $50 per machine. Only those Bidders who pay the bidding fee will be allowed to watch the Facebook Live Feed. Our cashier will immediately charge your credit card, the purchase price minus the $50, after you have won the high bid on your selected machine."

I made plans to drive over from Birmingham but now am second guessing. Just look at the success of the penny auction sites. Peoples can be so stupid at times...
I'd like to see a bit more commitment before a online bid is placed like a few hundred charged to a CC before a bid is placed and auctions started at the highest option-1 bid so as not to waste time running up to it bit by bit.

My biggest question is, what happens after a bidder in Washington State wins and pays for an auction? Who is going to crate it up and carry it to the trucking terminal? Do they have to be cleared out by Monday as well? I'd bet bidloud isn't changing their name to Bidloud & Pinball Transport

I think all machines have to be out of the auction space that was rented by the Feb 26th.

That makes more sense. I just misunderstood Monday the 26th to be the the day after the auction. Guess I should flip my calendar to February.
So what does it cost to hire someone(shipping co.) to go to Tulsa, breakdown, crate and ship a pinball, lets say 500 miles? I know most eBay shipping charges are $300-400 but the seller does have a horse in the race. Seems like that method of buying a pin is like a box of chocolates.

I sent the following email to Jay and received a prompt reply.

Hi Jay,
I know you are busy so I'll try to be brief. I live in Birmingham AL and have already booked a hotel room in Tulsa and trailer in order to attend this auction. The recent addition of remote bidding has given me some concerns as I'm committing approximately $400 just to attend and I see some possible issues arising form the remote bidding. As a member of Pinside, a very popular and active pinball forum, I am seeing that my concerns are well shared and some folks are waffling on even going. I would be much more comfortable with a more reasonable deposit by the remote bidders, similar to what I will invest, $400 base, $50 per auction perhaps. You then settle the difference with a partial refund or additional charge. Below is a link to a Pinside discussion for your reference.

regards

Bill,

Wow, I am sorry. First thank you for bringing this to may attention.

I have not done this before. I asked for suggestions from a local collector and I came up with the $ 50 per unit. It's for $ 50 per unit. I will not have someone standing there, all day with one bidder, after they have asked for only one machine. We will bid for them on the machines they want, and only if they have given us $ 50 per machine. They do not get their money back unless they are the winning bidder or the second high bidder on that machine.

I understand your investment is substantial. I would like to encourage you to still attend. The advantage of being there is that you will know exactly how the condition is on that machine. People that bid remotely will not have any recourse if the machine they win the bid on doesn't satisfy them due to condition. That is my biggest concern. I would rather have everyone attend.

I did state on my website that I was working on a solution to bid remotely. So, I hope potential buyers will give me a little allowance for trying to accommodate everyone.

Keep in mind, it is $ 50 paid upfront per machine that a remote bidder wants to bid on. I had a guy tell me yesterday that he wanted to bid on all of them. I said "simple, 160 machines times $ 50 each is $ 8,000, where is your credit card".

Please feel free to call me at 918-639-7653. I don't see the link to the Pinside discussion. Please feel free to copy and paste my response to the Pinside discussion, I am not a member.

P.S. I have not sold 160 Pinball machines before. I also know, not many have had a collection like this one to sell. Many hard to find, special machines. Please consider attending or bidding remotely.

Thanks Again,
Jay Litchfield
BidLoud.com
918-639-7653

I am driving but I'm a computer programmer and like to know all the specs

Being there I've already spent my trip money and am only incurring the additional cost of what I bid. I just wanted a general idea of what the other guy is "really" slapping down on the barrel head. Everything really only boils down to when you show your prize to your spouse and you are asked, "so, what did it cost?" If you have one like mine, the follow up is the kicker, "no, I mean total"

As Jay stated, the remote bidders aren't there the ascertain condition themselves so those of us there will have a better idea when to stop. We may not over bid on a machine but on the flip side, may be hauling an empty trailer home. It is good news there isn't a ton of folks lining up to bid remotely but still don't much care for the fact they can.

Speaking as someone who has purchased at several similar estate auctions, you don't have to worry about "pinball people" bidding the prices sky high. It's usually the non-pinheads, you know, American pickers/storage wars watching folks, who bid these things to astronomical prices.
If they end up winning the bid, give them your contact number. Once they figure out the thing is difficult, if not impossible for them to get working, they'll probably want to pass it on to someone else.

So how many non-locals are actually traveling for this (i am)? Should somebody rent out a conference room for a pinside meetup?

Yeah, that's mostly what I'm worried about. It only takes one clueless guy with bottomless pockets to suck the fun out of it for a lot of people.

YUUPP!

Am I reading this right. 50 bucks just to bid? And if you don't win or are at least 2nd highest, you have to forfeit your money? F that. Should be illegal. Shillling and fraud, we welcome thee.

That’s how it comes across... and is the most worrisome aspect.

If 6-8 people bid remotely, 6 of them are guaranteed to lose $50 apiece. How high might they outbid one another to vie for that 2nd place position in order not to lose their $50?

Never heard of this before. Might get weird, but hope it goes well.

To be honest I'm not sure why he'd even worry about online or absentee bidding. This auction is well advertised. It will probably attract enough real attendees to command a solid price on most games. When you commit the time to travel and stand all day and wait for a specific title, chances are your willing to pay a little more than you'd normally be comfortable with. You're already invested in the process.

+1

No, you are not reading it right. $50 if you want a person to assist you LIVE on the phone during the auction for continual dynamic bidding in the moment. You can also just put in a remote bid for the maximum you are willing to spend and its either enough or its not - for no extra money. People's time to be with you on the phone is worth something, as is the seriousness of intent for setting that up. Seems like a pretty reasonable choice top me - considering they don't have to offer remote bidding at all. As with anything else in life, if you are not OK with the terms, you simply don't have to engage in it. The people here jumping right to fraud or scam - insanely jerky and disrespectful seeing as nothing about any of this seems shady. Lots of nice looking titles with pictures and people willing to jump on the phone with any questions...and no 20% auction fees on top of the winning bid. Good luck with the auction!

What's the directions again?

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I thought the exact same thing when I read that, Option one sounds the best for those who can not make it.

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edit: Thanks Underspin!

I’ve had luck here with .gifs when I upload them as “original size no rescalling.”

Keeping file size low helps as well

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This week on a very special 2 part episode of Pinballers...err...Pinsiders, the Tulsa Auction Saga.

No. This can't be done in a fair manner. It would not be fair to the remote option-1 bidder for his maximum bid to become a floor price for opening an auction. Say opt-1 bidder put in a max bid of $500.00. And then you want the proxy bidder to make an opening bid of $500.00. That might be the only bid and the remote bidder just bought the pin for $500.00. And everybody is supposed to be happy? If I was the remote bidder I would not be happy at all.

Here is the other way. Someone opens the auction for $25.00 and the bidding starts going up but stalls at $275.00 with the remote bidder being the high bidder at $275.00. Sold to the remote bidder for $275.00. Doing it the way you describe would unnecessarily have cost the remote bidder an extra $225.00.

Im going to this as I live in Oklahoma, in also going to the TPF so if you bought one and didn't or couldn't get up here, I could store it for a small fee and drive it with me TPF.

I'm driving up from Austin and expect to have plenty of room in the trailer. Also willing to store until TPF. Happy to help load if you need a hand.

I love that the last couple posts have offered space in their trailers and storage until TPF. That is very generous. But also those of you concerned about the $50 deposit for option 2 could just find someone who's going (and that you trust) to hold their phone up while your lot is up for bids and holler on your behalf, assuming they also trust you to pay the amount due. This way you (as the bidder) could also get your proxy to take practically limitless photos of the lots ahead of time and judge the condition.

However, my read on Option 2 is that the high bidder *and* the runner up on a given lot will have the $50 fee waived. BidLoudcom is this correct?

I'll be in Tulsa with a long-bed F250 and an enclosed 12'x6' trailer, so room for 16 pins or so.

What if I offered a "bidding service" whereby you tell me which title and how high you'll bid, and I'll bid for you. You would only pay the $50 if you win the auction! I'll also text pictures/videos if required, and give my feedback on the machine's condition. As soon as I notify you that we've won, you send me the winning bid amount, plus $50 extra, as a Paypal friends and family transfer.

If we win, I will not get involved with any 3rd-party crating or shipping. However, if you are attending TPF, I could deliver there. I could also drop off directly in the DFW area on the way back. I would ask a small crating and transfer fee for the delivery service.

If I can help out a few of you guys, it will pay my travel expenses. My biggest risk is someone flaking on paying for a bid, but hey, I'd still have the pin!

If anyone is interested, pm me.

PM sent

What if we both wanted the same game? Oh boy!!

Man, I have never seen people complain this much. Yes, there's a cost to this, and if you're not comfortable putting in your high bid and avoiding the fee, just don't bid.

I can tell you, I was amazed at the fact there is no buyers premium. That alone puts these guys heads and shoulders above most auctioneers in terms of honesty. You should see how much buyers get taken to the cleaners in high-end comic book, coin, and car auctions. It's criminal. And the massive shilling that occurs in these auctions is insane also. I'm not going to tell my story (a friends actually) about another well known auction house and a pinball machine. (it was despicable). My gut is these guys are being more than fair, and just want to make sure they don't get taken to the cleaners or overwhelmed by casual bidders that are looking for steals. All you have to do is submit your high bid to avoid all fees. Nothing fairer than that.

Agree, no buyer's premium tells you that the auctioneer is not in it to scam you guys out of $50. Sounds like a nice guy trying to offer up some options. Think about it, you have to put a price on this otherwise everyone and their dog will try it - it's meant for very serious buyers only and that makes it $50.

I'd probably let you have it just to make the $50. None of these titles are "must-haves" in my book, except of course the 1977 Stern "Disco"..sarcasm.

Pinballers.....never heard of them.

Complainers? On Pinside?

That's not just Pinside. That's life everywhere. There are those who get handed a silver spoon and they bitch cause it's not the one they wanted.

I think the auctioneer is very up front and honest and seems to be doing what he can to make it a good and honest auction, rather than trying to put more money in his pocket.

Fingers crossed for integrity! Many of us will be driving hundreds of miles or more, getting hotel rooms, etc. and obviously hoping to avoid any last-minute surprise shenanigans.

Just a good old-fashioned auction, please... here's the first item, highest bidder takes it, here's the next item... and so forth.

I've spent the last day researching every pin on that list. Its amazing how many have no past classified ads on Pinside, and no sales history. Especially the 1950's and early 1960's titles.

The collector must have been the pinball-ad "first responder" for the Tulsa area for many, many years! Like someone else said, its a parade of low-end pins!