SAN DIEGO 2010

[Guest]

[Bryanjs14]

I am angry at the way artbox changed how the auction was done every night. One person should not end up with 16 cards, it all just seemed shady to me is all. There is absolutely no reason on the planet to put a MAX on a silent auction, that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.

[rns91294]

I think Artbox could have made it so that if you won an auction, you were not allowed to win another. A max on a silent auction is strange. I wonder why they did that.....

[Bryanjs14]

Rns I have spent days pondering that and I have not come up with a single answer that makes any kind of sense.

[mcgonagall]

maybe it is just that they want certain people to win

[Bryanjs14]

Bingo. Only reason I can think of but didn't want to say it.

Artbox knows what these cards get on eBay. Why would they want to sell a set for $3000 max knowing that a single card can bring that in?

[Bryanjs14]

The cartel you speak of means 7 different people all get 1 card. 4 people in the cartel are collectors and the cards will never see the light of day.

This is no small time collector. This guy bought 8+ bags every day (he had 3 friends with him and went through the line multiple times each day) purchased some of the master set auctions, and won two whole sets which he is selling all for himself. What is small time collector about that? I am more small time collector than him, I just joined up with other collectors to have a better chance at getting 1 of something that I could never afford as a set. This guy was there for the same reason as almost everyone else. If you get lucky and win some stuff or win some auctions you will most definitely end up a happy person should you decide to sell. All I am saying is putting such a low max price on a silent auction looks very questionable to me. If the max was like 5k or 6k I would understand.

Let me put it this way. The night before when we won the Cedric letter cards we paid more per card than the max price put on the other diggory set. Why would you make your Mac price LESS than the previous nights selling price unless you wanted a certain person to win

[Bogleg]

How did each of the auctions run, Bryan? Last year, the silent auction was a clipboard where you wrote your bid (a silent auction in this country is where you post your bid in a box and at closing, the highest wins). Kay told me it would be different this year, but didn't say how.

[Bryanjs14]

I mentioned how it was run a page or so back. Run differently every night.

[Bogleg]

Ooops. Sorry 

[Bryanjs14]

Well there was a group of us buying the cards. In that group 3 or 4 people were collectors, who would never sell the cards, and the other couple are the people you see with the cards on eBay. We all wanted the set, but realized that buying it and bidding huge against each other would be stupid, and all agreed we would be happy with one card.

We still had people bidding against us, and we lost two nights to the same person, but that wasn't because our bid wasn't high enough it was because of the stupid way Artbox decided to do the auction those two nights that made it seem like they had an agenda and wanted the other single bidder to win. Our outlook is it is better for 7 people to win one card each rather than one person win sets of 7 or 8 and be reselling them all, which is exactly what happened. If anyone here ends up wanting part of the diggory or weasley set this one person won, you can deal with him and him alone. If you can't come to terms with him, then you prob won't get a card from those sets. If you wanted a diggory letter or Cedric patch from the sets we won, there are 3 or 4 different people selling those cards for you to try and deal with. It just doesn't seem right that one person controls the market for two whole sets

[central_park]

I think they want certain people to win the auctions. I was talking to one of the volunteers there and she kind of gave me the impression that certain info was given out to certain card buyers. She also told me that whatever they had in their case was promised to certain buyers so when I tried to buy some sets in the case I told I couldn't. It should be first come first serve, no holdings. 

[rns91294]

I agree. There should be no holding and no "special" info given out to anyone. I wonder if this person who won the two sets knows someone a Atbox. How he/she managed to get 8 bags a day amazes me. The rule was supposed to be 1 bag per person per day as it was in the past. If they had that many extra bags, they could have given them to Tom like they did one year in the past to sell off to people who could not make SDCC.

[Bryanjs14]

Well the rule WAS enforced. The guy had 3 friends there with him, so he was able to get 4, and then he would get back in line (which I did two times as well) and got 4 more IF he made it through the line again before they ran out of bags.

The first set he won, he won for $100 over the minimum sale price, and the second set he won he happened to guess the exact maximum amount you could bid. We all bid HIGHER than the maximum amount.

[rns91294]

Well the rule WAS enforced. The guy had 3 friends there with him, so he was able to get 4, and then he would get back in line (which I did two times as well) and got 4 more IF he made it through the line again before they ran out of bags.

The first set he won, he won for $100 over the minimum sale price, and the second set he won he happened to guess the exact maximum amount you could bid. We all bid HIGHER than the maximum amount.

Does Artbox start selling the bags a soon as doors open, or do they start at a specific time of day? I ask because if Artbox starts selling first thing, then they should not allow anyone to get back in line so that people coming later in the day could still have a chance. Of course, with all the people, Artbox might not remember who they already sold to. It worked out for you to get extra either way, and had I been there, I would have done the same thing .

Does Artbox tell everyone there what the winning bid amount actually is?

[central_park]

The doors open at 9:30am to let everyone in(every year I have gone they let us in about 10min early). Artobox will not sell to anyone until 10am. You have to jump in line and wait. All the people in the front of the line are usually exhibitors, they can be in and out of the convention center before and after hours.  Which sucks! Also about 5-10 minutes before 10am all the extra friends show up and jump in line.     All the goody bags are sold in the morning! Throughout the day the booth gets people asking questions or buying whatever sets/binders/magnets they have in the case.
It is very easy to say most of the business for Artbox is done between 10-11am.

[Bryanjs14]

correct. the doors actually open a little earlier, and artbox makes you just stand around and wait for them. They are 100% ready to start selling the minute the doors open, but they make you stand around for 45 minutes+ for no good reason.

It sucks when you go to the convention for the panels, and you have to sacrifice going to one just to wait on artbox to sell to you. But everyone has a fair chance to get in line and get one, most of the time there are 80 or so people in line, and at the end there are always a couple bags left and people jump back in line and buy more

[mcgonagall]

it would be nice if artbox used those extra bags and had a international competiton so that people who have no chance in heck to get one ( unless from ebay ) can win or purchases them ....

[ferdinand_the_yak]

I can't believe this person is selling EACH card for more than he paid for the entire SET. 833% profit margin = Wow!

And IF they really were a "preferred buyer", well, that's a bit rich!

[rns91294]

I notice he lowered his price. He also declined an offer, which was probably really reasonable considering what he paid. Say the person offered $1000, and he got that much for all 8 cards ($8000), he would still make a ton of money on the deal. But still, I wouldn't buy from him since I know what he paid for the full set. He really is trying to make a ton of money.....which makes me wonder. I think he must have known someone.

I agree that the extra bags should be used for a competition on their website or given to a dealer to sell to those who can not make it. I know by 11am, there may be some left for people to get back in line...but they could also hold on to those bags for people who don't make it in the door at 9:30. Someone should be able to buy a bag at 1pm if there are any left rather than sell them to someone who already got their bag for the day. Again, if i were there, I too would end up back in line. I am only saying what is the actual fair thing to do. As for the line cutting, someone should also be watching the line to make sure that can't happen because that is not fair at all.

Bryan, you didn't answer on how you know what everyone paid for their winning auctions. Did Artbox announce the winning amounts?

[Bryanjs14]

On both nights the single bidder won, I just asked the guy what offer he put in after he won. For SOME reason, Kay would not show us the actual bids so I had to ask the guy (which, again, was a little sketchy. there is no reason not to know the winning bid). I know what the minimum/maximums where on the silent auction because those WERE announced after each auction was done.

I would be MORE than happy to get anyone a bag any year, I just hate shipping international on something that size/weight. It always gives me a headache.