Live auctions with online bidding - the problem with split increments

The Matrix

For thousands of years, the auction business has generally worked the same way. Items offered are assembled in a central location, bidders show up in person, an auctioneer calls the bids from the crowd, winning bids are awarded, items are paid for and transactions are done. That is, until the Internet popped up and dumped hundreds, if not thousands of new twists and facets into the mix of how auctions are conducted.

There is one twist I'd like to focus on in particular today. It's one that has appeared more than a few times now at Burns Auction & Appraisal as the source of confusion and sometimes hurt feelings. While some of the signs of this issue have often popped up for us, it wasn't until recently that we've been able to identify and decipher this one particular quirk in running a live auction with an online simulcast. 

To start - let's first get some background out of the way. We conduct regular auctions at our auction gallery with both live and online bidding. The live bidding is the traditional sort of bidding most folks are familiar with. The online component is what has introduced so many bidders around the world to us. 

We typically post our auctions to online bidding sites LiveAuctioneers.com and AuctionZip.com several days before auction day. Each lot includes photos and an item description. Bidders can enter bids ahead of time on items, and when we get to that item on auction day in real time, those bids pop up on a computer screen and an employee executes the bids against the people in the room. Online bidders can also bid in real time during our auctions. When we get to lot 10, for example, they see lot 10and can see where the bid is at, and then place their own bid which is then sent through the net to us, and announced by our employee working the online terminal. 

Bidding online in real time looks like this. This is an auction being run on LiveAuctioneers on  Nov. 7, 2013:

For each lot, the bidding runs fairly smoothly. Bidders in the room can bid on an item and so can the online bidders. The high bid is still the winning bid - with one unusual exception - and herein lies the quirk we have run into from time to time.

We've found that the online auction platforms that we use - AuctionZip Live and LiveAuctioneers - essentially do not allow for split-increment bids often held up by bidders in the room. Here is a simple example:

Bidder 1 puts in a bid of $10 online on an item before the auction.

The auction starts, and the item opens at $5 online with a bid from Bidder 1. 

Bidder 2, live in the auction gallery, asks the auctioneer to split the bid - that is, to bid $7.50 instead of $10. 

We take that $7.50 in the room - but can't enter a $7.50 online. The next available online bid option is $10 because either the system doesn't take a split bid, or makes it very difficult to do so. We enter the floor bid of $7.50 online as a bid of $10 online because the computer system has to be kept up with the right bidder (floor or net) but won't take $7.50, but instead will only take bids in set increments such as 5, 10, 25 etc.

The problem with this is that the person who bids $10 online doesn't win the item. It sells to the floor at $7.50 because the $7.50 bid from the floor had to be entered as $10, thus kicking the internet bidder's $10 high bid out. 

The result can be a confused online bidders who wonder "If the online system said the item sold at $10, why didn't I win it since my high bid was $10?"

Even with a bidding platform that does allow split bids, auction increments are often set before the auction. For instance, we use $5 bid increments online up to $100. If we took a floor bid of $7.50 and could enter it, the next available online would be $12.50, which would still keep a $10 online bidder from winning the bid against a $7.50 floor bid.

Here is a real-world example. A bidder put in an Internet bid of $50 on an item online. We had her online bid at $45, but then received a split increment bid in the auction house of $47.50. Our terminal operator, unable to enter a split bid in the system, entered the floor bid on the net at $50. That kicked out the $50 bid the internet bidder had put in, even though the high bid was only $47.50. The item sold for $47.50 and was entered in our books as selling for that price, but still, it showed as sold $50 online because of our inability to put in a split bid. Here is the readout from AuctionZip. The blacked out bidder is the online bidder:

At the moment, it isn't clear that there is a perfect solution to this issue. The consequence is that on occasion, items sell for a split increment's amount below their high online bid. Thus, an item with a $10 bid online might sell for $7.50 in the room, an item with a $50 online bid might bring $47.50 in the room. Bidders can become confused or upset when they don't win the item they bid on.

There are several possible approaches to this issue. Of course, a quick, feasible technical fix would be best. We could also limit split increment in-house bids, but our bidders are fond of splitting the bid and it would be unfair to them to prohibit this outright. 

Thus, until an efficient fix is made, the split in-house bid can beat the online bidder that has a slightly higher bid. 

We continue to advise all of our bidders to bid in person if possible. It is the most fail-safe way of getting bids through. We also accept absentee bids. 

If you can't make it in person - we always encourage bidders to bid in real time on our auctions. That way, you always have the ability to bid "just one more time" if you get outbid. 

Quick tip for spotting the most flagrant of fake tintypes.

Hey folks - since writing my blog entry back in 2011 on fake tintypes, it has become the go-to reference on fake tins. I routinely receive inquires asking me to help buyers figure out if their tintypes are fakes or not.

One thing I'd like to note is - folks usually ask me after they have purchased the tin! The time to really be critical is before making that buy. After the money has changed hands the victim-buyer is usually in a sort of sad state of really hoping the tin is real. And it's hard  to convey the bad news although usually quite easy to figure out that the tin is a fake.

But here is a trick for you. Before buying that incredibly iconic image, that image that really should be in a museum or some incredible, well-known private collection - use Google to see if it already is!

A recent inquiry concerned the below tin. The buyer asked if real and seemed very hopeful that it is the real thing.

My reply: " I don't like it. Too bright and clean. Strange flecks across it look odd, too. Green is also concerning. It is so much about gut reaction to these. If you bought this for anywhere under $2k or so I'd bet it is a fake. Have you had it out of the preserver? I'd bet it is a fake applied to a legit tin, since the back looks OK, tho possibly later and not CW era. Take it out and see if it is overlayed on something else..."

But I also took a second to do something else. I entered into Google Images "black civil war soldier family" like so:

And sure enough, there is the image. See it there in the upper right. I clicked it, went to the site, and saw that it is indeed in the Library of Congress. Mystery solved. This may not always work on every tin, but when it may be fake, and seems waaaaaaaaaaay too good to be true in terms of price, take a quick look around to see if you can find the faker's source for the image. 

NOTE: Reader Alan Griffiths, proprietor of the fantastic Luminous Lint, recommends using TinEye, which is a program that will search the Web for other examples of any image you select. Pretty neat! 

In a large consignment auction, many stories intertwine

In a large consignment auction, many stories intertwine

These are not my memories, my joyful discovery or deep loss. 

The collection that spanned decades with a love for automobiles and America as a manufacturing powerhouse, struck low by a stroke and a realization of the fleeting nature of life. Nor the antiques random and varied but with a common thread through Mt. Vernon, Ohio, where an older lady's family had once kept a store many, many years ago. Calendars marked with the family name, advertising pencils once proudly purchased decades before the world knew of today's social media or online world.

There are the early photographs, cataloged and cared for as part of a meticulous and long-term plan for organizing and enjoying a growing collection that was to blossom for many years to come. But those years seem stolen now, as the kind, gentle man who bought these things suddenly found out he had a most terminal of cancers. He then decided to sell, so as not to burden his children with what was his passionate, long-term hope for a collection that would never be. As we carefully packed these things at his home, he sat head in hands, in pain, and frail. The sorrow of the moment was indelible, and I'll never forget it. 

But it is not all sadness, as life itself never truly is. The woman with roots in Mt. Vernon sold to move to a far-away state. Her belongings packed away by us, she quickly sold her house despite the down market, and now lives in the same town as her son, and grandchildren. She employed us as a means to a wonderful end, to be near to family. 

And still another consignor, whose collection of political items, ephemera and advertising material will be offered Sept. 22-23, today enjoys warm southern climes and a love affair with a special car and the camaraderie it brings. And he reports that he continues to surrender to the pull to head out and buy a little more when the price is right. 

But like all things material, we are only ever stewards for a time. And as our consignors ended their own time as stewards, they entrusted us with the task. For our auction house, that meant careful sorting, organization and marketing that is required to find a good and new home for so many treasures on two days in September. The process is rarely easy for those parting with these things, and for us it is always a meticulous and long task requiring focus to the end. 

But all has gone well, and the auction is set. Consignors are excited, and ready to see results. While potential buyers show their cards as much as championship poker players do, it is clear they have begun to circle in anticipation of the auction. These are all good things, although it is hard to ever forget the other part of the story, of those who kept these items for so very long, and with love. 

You can check out our auction online here, but please come in person if you can. Our gallery is where you can see these treasures first hand - and that really is the only way to do it. And who knows, you might buy something, and then you, too, are part of this human story buying and loving these things. That's the fun of it, after all.  

Burns Auction & Appraisal is located at 113 N. Columbus St., Lancaster, Ohio, 43130, in the historic Democrat building in downtown Lancaster. 

Here are a few highlights of our auction:

This plaque once hung on a building in Indianapolis:

Lucky Teter was lucky until he died driving his stunt car in 1942.

Old signs are always a hit.

This rare large storage jar likely comes from a Mid-Atlantic state such as Virginia.

This coke machine dates to the 1940s.

Our consignor didn't know this gold coin was in a box of old coins. She'll be happy when she gets the check.

A really neat postcard. If you are in Ohio, you know why!

This signed print includes an autograph of Teddy Roosevelt on a White House business card.

Skinner auction results - Lots of good ones!

Hey folks, the auction house Skinner had a big early image auction this past week. Here are some highlights for you. Strong images did very well and many of the lesser images sold for strong prices, too. The market for photographs remains strong. Here are images that brought $2,000 or more. All image links and prices are from liveauctioneers.com, where this auction was simulcast.

$2300

$2100

$2400

$13000

$4250

$2700

$2500

$2000

$13500

$2300

$2300

$3000

$2900

$6100

$2200

$3250

$2400

$2500

$2300

$2200

$2300

$2100

$3250

$2800

$16000

$2800

Fighting the flood of the fake tintypes

This piece is scheduled to appear in  future publications issued by the Michigan State Auctioneers Association and Ohio Auctioneers Association.

If you haven't seen one yet, you will.
Civil War tintypes that seem the holy grail. Soldiers with two or even three guns stuffed into their belts. Rare Confederate views. Black soldiers of the Great Rebellion. The cream of the crop to collectors.
Except they're not. They're fake.
The bogus tintypes have begun to flood eBay in a trend that seems to have taken hold in recent months. While some are sold as reproductions, others are sold as the real deal. Even those labeled as fakes bring money in the hundreds of dollars. Those that aren't labeled as fakes do, too, as unsuspecting buyers snatch up what appear to be great deals. And why does anyone pay hundreds of dollars for the images disclosed as reproductions? Because they'll probably sell them as the real deal for a lot more.
It's only a matter of time before they wind up on your doorstep, as consignments for the next auction. Some will surely knowingly peddle these fakes as the real deal. But countless others will get a hold of fakes they bought as the real thing from someone else, either on eBay, at a flea market or another auction. And what will they do?
They'll bring the image to auction, put it back on eBay or otherwise offer it as the real deal.
You may very well get excited, as will your bidders. The price might soar, and yet another sorry buyer will end up with a pricey tintype with little value.
I can't proclaim to know the motivations of the handful of eBay sellers that move these fakes on a near daily basis. I'm not even entirely sure how these things are made. I bought one to examine it, and had the seller pull out of the deal, supposedly because of an eBay sanction. It's too bad. I would have liked to examine the thing in the flesh. I still will as soon as I buy one and get it delivered.
In the mean time, here are some tips.
Of course, looking at as many of the real thing as possible never hurts.
Real tintypes are attracted to a magnet (tintypes are indeed not tin, but on a thin sheet of iron), and most often have a deep and rich contrast and are black and gray or black and a deep gray brown. Those that I have seen online that are clearly fakes have a strange color. Green in tone, or blue, and with little contrast. Their backs are often unusual too.
Just about all real tintypes have a back that japanned black or is brown in color, but has not had any heavy coating painted on.
These fakes, though, seem to wind up with a coating on the back for whatever reason. That's another thing to watch out for.
 While low quality repros have been floating around for quite a while, these better copies today seem to be coming out in larger numbers. They're sure to end up at your auction house soon, and they seem to get harder to spot by the day.
The sad result will be a depressed price for the legitimate item. I've already been contacted by one seller who had a 'Reb tintype returned after a buyer accused it of being a fake. I'm convinced it was real, but as soon as the fakes flood the market everyone becomes suspicious.

Here are a few fake tintype images from eBay, with my thoughts on them:

This image clearly lacks contrast depths of a genuine tintype. Gradation in tone is also poor. It fades from light to black very quickly. It also has a uniform yellow color.

Back appears coated, unlike most tintypes

This lack of tint and contrast, along with the green color and complete lack of surface wear, belies this as a fake.

The back had a treatment similar to the above tintype, but was sanded to add "age." It was also bent a few times to add the appearance of age. As with all antiques, one must look for signs of authentic age.

Poor contrast and color. These fakes are often tinted, and often elaborately, to add some sense of authenticity. Tinting does not make a tintype authentic. In fact, too much of it might call it into question if some of the other issues are also present.

Also has the sanded back, worn in a way that is not also apparent on the front. Pure fakery.

Excessive tinting in the flag, but no tinting elsewhere. Lack of contrast and tone. Strange green color.

Treated back.

Again, the strangely tinted flag and odd tone.

This image is trickier. It has been cut to an oval, and had paper applied to the back as if it once resided in an album. Do not be fooled. Look closely at the treated back and odd tone on the front. 

Again, poor contrast and tone/color gradation.

A strange blue color and little contrast and gradation.

This one is trickier, but still has a very sharp transition from dark to light, which gives it away, as does some other strange bleeding in the colors at his elbow to our right.

And the back has the treatment that gives it away.

Please do not be fooled by these. If you come across an image and aren't sure, don't hesitate to contact me at adrian@burnsbid.com