Author
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Topic: Regency-Superior April 2009 auction
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mjanovec Member Posts: 3811 From: Midwest, USA Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 04-16-2009 04:58 PM
quote: Originally posted by gliderpilotuk: If the former means a bidder on the RS site then there were a lot of unsold items
I think "on site" refers to live bidders at the auction house, not the bidders at the RS internet site. It's interesting how absentee bids placed on the RS website always seem to start out at their maximum amount. Anyone else notice this? |
DOX32 Member Posts: 242 From: Lakewood Ranch FL USA Registered: Jul 2004
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posted 04-16-2009 05:07 PM
I tried to bid a few times, but do not know my number? Many lots going unsold before you have a chance to bid! How do you know if you win anything?Alan, this is really POOR! |
Alan Lipkin Member Posts: 78 From: Beverly Hills, CA USA Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 04-16-2009 06:22 PM
Here it is straight: liveauctioneers.com was horrible to use. Their system was unable to indicate many lot winners online in "real-time". We will have our prices realized posted on our website soon after the sale. We are sorry for any problems, please be patient. We will be having our own in-house program in use for our October sale. Truly live and interactive. We will definitely not be using "Live Auctioneers again". |
Spacefest Member Posts: 1168 From: Tucson, AZ Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 04-16-2009 07:06 PM
quote: Originally posted by DOX32: ...Alan, this is really POOR!
HEY!Seriously, when we put on a live auction last year, we made money, but it was the hardest thing we've ever done. Never again. Give Alan a break. I'm sure he's fried, too. |
LCDR Scott Schneeweis New Member Posts: From: Registered:
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posted 04-16-2009 07:10 PM
Before operationally implementing your new online auction in October perhaps you can conduct a trial run preceding with volunteer participants to ensure both consignors and bidders have high confidence going into the actual event. |
DCCollector Member Posts: 227 From: Washington, DC USA Registered: Dec 2006
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posted 04-16-2009 09:32 PM
quote: Originally posted by mjanovec: It's interesting how absentee bids placed on the RS website always seem to start out at their maximum amount. Anyone else notice this?
Yes, I noticed this in the previous auction -- when the first and only bid that appeared during the live auction was my maximum bid on the item. This led me to avoid placing any website bids this time around. |
machbusterman Member Posts: 1778 From: Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland Registered: May 2004
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posted 04-17-2009 12:29 AM
What I want to know is why lots that have absentee bids always start at (or the next bidding increment) ABOVE your maximum bid when there was clearly a much lower bid registered by an absentee bidder. On one particular lot I had placed a max absentee bid of $350 and up until the auction went live the "current opening" was $270 and it opened at $350. This seems more than a little underhand to me. I can assure you I'll NEVER place an absentee bid with Regency Superior again. I never even got a conformation email from Live Auctioneers and therefore couldn't bid/view the auction live. This is seriously ridiculous, it was much better with eBay live and with the recent Lunar Legacies auction (I had placed an absentee bid and I got the item for less than my max bid) the live bidding with proxibid was flawless IMHO. One thing is for sure, I doubt I'll ever consign anything to Regency Superior. |
MadSci Member Posts: 226 From: Maryland, USA Registered: Oct 2008
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posted 04-17-2009 02:20 AM
Scott, I was thinking the same thing. It might be easier than setting up a new auction -- why not just re-do one of the previous auctions so Regency doesn't have to create a new catalog etc. What I mean is for Regency to post a 'Fake" auction of some items they already have auctioned. We all login and bid as realistically as we like. After a while, assuming they get the same level of server traffic as they had in the past, their system would be tested - and without any consignor's or bidder's finances being put at risk. Assuming the test was positive, their next 'real' auction would likely be well attended. I would offer the use of photos, etc. of the items I have won in the past - assuming they need an authorization to use them (I expect the images from their catalog actually belong to Regency and they can use them again if they wish). It's unconventional, but to say the least, today's (and I suspect tomorrow's) auction was 'unconventional' to say the least. Frankly, if I was a consignor I'd be looking into nullifying my sale if I could. Anyway, I think you're on to something and I would like to let Regency know that as frustrated as I was today, I'd rather try to help make things better going forward than let this usually wonderful source of Artifacts twist in the wind. That said - if whoever sold the Hubble cells wants to try again they have my support. ![](http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/wink.gif) |
noroxine Member Posts: 116 From: Registered: Mar 2009
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posted 04-17-2009 06:50 AM
This current auction system is really not great. There is a lot of technical issue and system seams by time stop and restart. Very bad.The other real BAD part is how the auction is manage. There is a start price that doesn't match with price that is write on the Regency Stamps list and the early bid is in general more interesting for the seller than for the buyer. This take price to the high which is not very great in my mind. There is many items that not sell I think due to this. It's an urgency to chance this ASAP. |
DOX32 Member Posts: 242 From: Lakewood Ranch FL USA Registered: Jul 2004
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posted 04-17-2009 09:36 AM
Just an added technical note, if you use IE8 on a VISTA PC, the plug in does not load, ever! I had to install Firefox 3 and use it as a browser, with the plugin. The plug in gives little information to intelligently bid, period! There are better live auction software out there in use (e.g. Fusco Auctions, ProxiBid to name two good live systems) after eBay Live closed. Thank you for the reply, Alan! Bottom line, there were some lots that got no bid, what will happen to them, or will they be reopened at a later date. Also, you can not see what sold or did not sell, and, using this current Live Auctioneers system. I did not even know my paddle number! No confirm if you win (I did not, thankfully)! |
mjanovec Member Posts: 3811 From: Midwest, USA Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 04-17-2009 12:38 PM
I found it a little odd that, in order to bid on Session 2, you have to register separately for that session. In other words, even if you've been approved to bid on the auction yesterday, you aren't approved to bid on the auction today...unless you register again. I did re-register as soon as I discovered that, but it was too late to bid on the lots I wanted from today's session.Anyone else have the same problem? I hope the consignors for today's lots don't end up with the short end of the stick as a result. |
JasonIUP Member Posts: 282 From: PA Registered: Apr 2004
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posted 04-17-2009 12:51 PM
So, why not be old-school about it and be a live phone bidder? I did that and it worked out fine. |
GACspaceguy Member Posts: 2476 From: Guyton, GA Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 04-17-2009 12:58 PM
This is the second auction in a row that I can not get into. Looks like I will be saving my money for another Lunar Legacies auction, at least I can bid there! |
mjanovec Member Posts: 3811 From: Midwest, USA Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 04-17-2009 01:03 PM
quote: Originally posted by JasonIUP: So, why not be old-school about it and be a live phone bidder? I did that and it worked out fine.
It's not as practical to stay on the phone and try to "watch" the bidding that way...especially if there are several lots you are considering placing a bid on, but don't know for certain if you'll bid until you see where the prices start out at. Plus, for those of us who are at work and have co-workers within earshot, phone bidding isn't a preferable option. |
BMckay Member Posts: 3220 From: MA, USA Registered: Sep 2002
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posted 04-17-2009 01:13 PM
When do the list of winning bids come out? |
gliderpilotuk Member Posts: 3398 From: London, UK Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 04-17-2009 03:40 PM
quote: Originally posted by mjanovec: I found it a little odd that, in order to bid on Session 2, you have to register separately for that session.
Yes I found that ridiculous. Just as I was cursing everyone involved I registered and behold, within 5 minutes I was approved by email. By then however, I'd missed some opening items I wanted to bid on. I suspect others were similarly lulled into a false sense of bidding security after Session 1.Phone bidding? ...ideal for those of us on another continent, not! One of the big problems was the speed of the auction. I reckoned it was around 120 items per hour, which is amazingly quick. So quick in fact that several items were glossed over before I could bid. I hope some of the unsold items are re-offered after-auction for the benefit of consignor and buyer alike. I look forward to RS's state of the art bidding platform. |
MadSci Member Posts: 226 From: Maryland, USA Registered: Oct 2008
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posted 04-17-2009 06:47 PM
I've just been perusing the results of the first day of the Regency auction. That is, if Live Auctioneers' website is to be trusted (and I'm not sure that it is) there are some interesting things to be gleaned there.First off, most, but not all, of the "No Sales" that were shown as such during the auction actually were "No Sales". Whole swaths of the catalog went unbidden. In many cases I can attest that the website simply didn't offer an opportunity to bid as it couldn't keep up. Some of the others are just strange. The Apollo 13 PPK (with a beta cloth patch sewn on it) couldn't raise a single bid with a starting price of $8,000, but the next item, a flown Apollo 13 beta cloth patch sold for $4250! Maybe the Live Auctioneers' system was paralyzed by the number of bids for the PPK, and simply loosened up enough for the following item to get some bids, but really, I would have expected the dealers to have been all over the PPK - which also had flown beta cloth patch scraps inside! Now that's definitely messed up! After Lot 340 I pretty much gave up, having missed the first 100 items because I couldn't load the necessary software, and then I couldn't bid for beans on anything. But afterwards, the results continued to be 'odd'. FYI, the old "Shuttle Blocks and Bolts" (Item #380) finally sold, for $55. The shuttle-era food was stolen at $100 each for Lots 401 and 402! The lovely Soviet Mir-era space hammer went for $750, way above the estimate of $200 to 300. Overall it's hard to make sense of any pattern. One thing that showed up a lot was that items with high starting prices often failed to get bids. Valuable items without them seemed to get snapped up as bargains. Case in point: item 218, those three lovely flown Apollo 11 orbital charts, went for just $15,000! I expect to see at least two of these on the block in the future for a lot more than $5000 each! For those interested in the Apollo 17 checklists, the rover checklist (item 328) went for $3,000 according to the website, while my notes showed a hammer price of $3250. In either case, a far cry from the bargain basement prices obtained last fall! You can get the hammer prices and bidding histories right here. NOTE: this is the link for the first lot – you just add the number of digits to the last number to get to the lot number you're interested in. |
stsmithva Member Posts: 1933 From: Fairfax, VA, USA Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 04-17-2009 08:28 PM
quote: Originally posted by MadSci: NOTE: this is the link for the first lot – you just add the number of digits to the last number to get to the lot number you're interested in.
Can you really see the hammer prices this way? I just see what the estimate and opening bid were. EDIT: I was having trouble because so few items show a completed sale. I do feel bad for Regency that this auction was so frustrating for them. I turned in all of my bids ahead of time on their website since I knew I'd be teaching during the auction, but if others really had trouble bidding then Live Auctioneers really let them down. Not to spin this into a discussion of online bidding in general, but eBay Live really seemed to work well- especially with being able to see the hammer prices of sold lots instantly. These days, I don't think it's being picky to expect to know quickly and conveniently if you have won a lot. |
stsmithva Member Posts: 1933 From: Fairfax, VA, USA Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 04-17-2009 08:47 PM
quote: Originally posted by machbusterman: What I want to know is why lots that have absentee bids always start at (or the next bidding increment) ABOVE your maximum bid when there was clearly a much lower bid registered by an absentee bidder.
Oh my, I will be surprised, disappointed, and annoyed if they really did that. I put in several absentee bids ahead of time that were well above the opening bid. If they really started the bidding with my absentee bid, instead of a lower opening then working their way up to my bid (or possibly NOT work their way up to my bid, so I'd win it at a lower price) that does not seem like a proper procedure to me. |
LCDR Scott Schneeweis New Member Posts: From: Registered:
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posted 04-17-2009 09:35 PM
quote: Originally posted by MadSci: FYI, the old "Shuttle Blocks and Bolts" (Item #380) finally sold, for $55.
Me thinks somebody got a raw deal on that one... |
mjanovec Member Posts: 3811 From: Midwest, USA Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 04-17-2009 11:34 PM
quote: Originally posted by MadSci: First off, most, but not all, of the "No Sales" that were shown as such during the auction actually were "No Sales". Whole swaths of the catalog went unbidden.
I believe many of these lots did indeed sell...but to absentee bidders. But if no additional bids were received once the lot came up for live bidding, then no bids were entered into the Live Auctioneers system and thus the lot was registered as a "no sale." In fact, there were lots where absentee bids were placed on the RS website that resulted in opening bids greater than the high estimate...and those lots also ended with "no sale" notifications on Live Auctioneers. Any lot with absentee bids that meets or exceeds estimates should be a sale. Perhaps Alan can clarify if this is indeed correct. |
mjanovec Member Posts: 3811 From: Midwest, USA Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 04-17-2009 11:41 PM
quote: Originally posted by stsmithva: Oh my, I will be surprised, disappointed, and annoyed if they really did that. I put in several absentee bids ahead of time that were well above the opening bid. If they really started the bidding with my absentee bid, instead of a lower opening then working their way up to my bid (or possibly NOT work their way up to my bid, so I'd win it at a lower price) that does not seem like a proper procedure to me.
All I know is that when I placed about 6 or so absentee bids in the auction last fall, every single lot opened at the exact maximum amount of my bid when it came up on eBay live...even if it was apparent I was the only person to place a bid on that item (as only one absentee bid was noted on the RS website...mine). I had naturally assumed bids would be handled as proxy bids, but that didn't appear to be the case. As such, I will probably never place an absentee bid again unless I know with absolute certainty it will be treated as a proxy bid, not a fixed bid. |
teopze Member Posts: 180 From: Warsaw, Poland Registered: May 2008
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posted 04-18-2009 02:38 AM
quote: Originally posted by machbusterman: What I want to know is why lots that have absentee bids always start at (or the next bidding increment) ABOVE your maximum bid when there was clearly a much lower bid registered by an absentee bidder.
This is also my experience. I hate RS for that, to me it's so so unfair. I also asked them the question on this but never got any answer, and I asked three times. That's why I decided to never again bid on any RS auction. quote: Originally posted by mjanovec: As such, I will probably never place an absentee bid again unless I know with absolute certainty it will be treated as a proxy bid, not a fixed bid.
Exactly, I see I was not the only one who was disappointed with this stupid system. What a pity... I'm sorry for you just as I was sorry for myself. Few more auctions like this and RS will end up having no customers. Learn your lesson Alan Lipkin, learn your lesson... |
MadSci Member Posts: 226 From: Maryland, USA Registered: Oct 2008
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posted 04-18-2009 04:14 AM
I have always thought that this aspect of Regency's online auctions was substandard, and it has resulted in my keeping my bidding prior to the actual sale at a minimum. As such, although it may seem to Regency's management that this is to their advantage, I suspect it isn't, as once people learn about this policy they seem to react negatively and I suspect few bid early again. Others like myself probably do so on occasion, but keep their bids low so as not to be forced to pay too high a price. Again, I don't think this serves Regency, buyers or the consignors well.That said, I do believe they state this policy on their website. I think it's a bad one sorely in need of change, but I don't think they're being unfair, just unfriendly to absentee bidders. If this were not their policy, I suspect there would be a lot more 'proxy' biding by those unable to bid live. If it had been set up like this, then even this week's fiasco might have turned out better for everyone, as at least the pre-auction bidding could have been brisk and might have helped make up for the Live Auctioneers failures. I would like to think that Regency will take the comments on this list into account in devising their new in-house system this fall. Not everyone can attend, even when the 'live' internet bidding system works well, and handling pre-auction bids as proxy bids will only encourage more bidding. |
noroxine Member Posts: 116 From: Registered: Mar 2009
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posted 04-18-2009 07:23 AM
quote: Originally posted by MadSci: The lovely Soviet Mir-era space hammer went for $750, way above the estimate of $200 to 300.
This type of item is in general very rare (flown or not) that is strange is that entry price was so low. Current pricing for this type of tools is more around $1000 so $750 for the one who win the lot is great price much less than buying at full price.That sure is that currently Soviet items price have been drop. |
Alan Lipkin Member Posts: 78 From: Beverly Hills, CA USA Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 04-18-2009 12:22 PM
Thank all of you for your “constructive” criticism. We at Regency-Superior appreciate your input and really do take it seriously. We will take care of the problems you bring to our attention. - Regency-Superior WILL NOT be using Live Auctioneers in our future sales. We have already cancelled their use in our June and August auctions. We have even had to go to our printer to stop production of the June catalog to change the front-matter of the catalog to take this into account.
Remember, the Live Auctioneer interface was not really live. It is a totally separate system from our own auction software and only becomes live at the time of the sale. On our own Regency-Superior website via faxes, phone bids, emails, etc. we had over 10,000 bids already on the “book” which was not reflected on Live Auctioneer’s website. That is way all the bids seemed to jump dramatically when they opened. - We will be using a truly Live Real-Time interface for our October Space Memorabilia auction. This will solve the access problems and the bidding problems related to what was sold or not, etc. It will also show bids immediately after they are placed only holding private the bidder’s high bid which will solve many of the other questions brought up on this website. Remember, the Live Auctioneer interface was not really live. It is a totally separate system from our own auction software and only becomes live at the time of the sale. On our own Regency-Superior website via faxes, phone bids, emails, etc. we had over 10,000 bids already on the “book” which was not reflected on Live Auctioneer’s website. That is way all the bids seemed to jump dramatically when they opened
- We will keep collectSPACE and this message board informed as things progress and request your help in getting things right. We may not be perfect, but we do care. We will continue to pursue the best for our auctions and for the hobby itself.
- If you have any questions at all about this auction or anything else. Please contact me directly at: alipkin@regencysuperior.com
Lastly, I would like to thank specifically each of you who have supported us and our auctions for the past 16+ years. It has not been an easy road, but it has been fun for the most part. I hope it continues to be the same for the foreseeable future.Best, Alan Lipkin Senior Vice President Regency-Superior, Ltd. |
mjanovec Member Posts: 3811 From: Midwest, USA Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 04-18-2009 01:14 PM
quote: Originally posted by MadSci: That said, I do believe they state this policy on their website.
Do you have a link to the page that states this policy? I looked for it, but can't find it. If this is the new policy, then it has changed. I remember doing absentee bids in the past that were treated as proxy bids...and you could watch the bidding start well below your maximum and see the bidding increments rise on EBay Live until the lot was sold...often below your maximum absentee bid. Also, there doesn't appear to be a match between the current opening bids page on the website and the actual opening bids that we saw on Live Auctioneers. An absentee bidder might be expected to believe that the posted opening bids would be accurate. |
BMckay Member Posts: 3220 From: MA, USA Registered: Sep 2002
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posted 04-18-2009 05:15 PM
When do the results usually come out? |
Alan Lipkin Member Posts: 78 From: Beverly Hills, CA USA Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 04-19-2009 10:50 AM
Auction results will be posted either late Sunday or sometime Monday on Regency-Superior's website. |
randyc Member Posts: 779 From: Chandler, AZ USA Registered: May 2003
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posted 04-19-2009 09:35 PM
The auction results for this week's Regency-Superior auction have been posted on their website. |
stsmithva Member Posts: 1933 From: Fairfax, VA, USA Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 04-20-2009 05:05 AM
Now that we have the definite hammer prices, does anyone notice any real bargains or surprisingly high prices? |
gliderpilotuk Member Posts: 3398 From: London, UK Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 04-20-2009 04:35 PM
The Grissom litho at $2100 at one extreme and the Apollo 16 launch litho crew uninscribed for $375 at the other!As someone else pointed out, the 3 flown Apollo 11 charts for $15k were a relative "bargain". |
hinkler Member Posts: 573 From: Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 04-20-2009 11:01 PM
$1100 sounds pretty good for a Givens, Freeman, See, Bassett, CC Williams, Chapman and more. Lot Number: 664 1960s Massive Autograph CollectionRarely offered early collection of over 60 different Astronaut autographs including a few of the Mercury 7, plus many from Astronaut groups 2-7. Among the many scarce autographs we note: See, Lovell, CC Williams, Ted Freeman, Bassett, Graveline, Michel, Bull, Givens, Chapman, many more. It is becoming more and more difficult to find original collections such as this today. Inspection highly recommended. |
Matt T Member Posts: 1368 From: Chester, Cheshire, UK Registered: May 2001
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posted 04-24-2009 02:37 PM
So what happened with the Gemini suit? Lot 102 doesn't appear in the prices realized list. |
gliderpilotuk Member Posts: 3398 From: London, UK Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 04-30-2009 04:30 AM
Anyone had an invoice yet or confirmation of winnings? |
ilbasso Member Posts: 1522 From: Greensboro, NC USA Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 04-30-2009 06:43 AM
I had a notification of winning and not winning bids last week, and my credit card was charged earlier this week. |
Sam Que Member Posts: 180 From: Chicago, IL, United States Registered: Feb 2009
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posted 04-30-2009 06:26 PM
Also received confirmation last week of the items I won and secondary e-mail indicating my credit card would be charged, however the charge has not been posted yet. |
mjanovec Member Posts: 3811 From: Midwest, USA Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 05-01-2009 12:05 PM
I didn't receive any winning notifications or invoices (draft or final), but apparently my card has been charged and I got a call from UPS that delivery is imminent. I found it a little odd that they automatically charged my card this time around without asking first, since I had only registered for this auction via Live Auctioneers and did not place a credit card number on file with them (or Regency) for this auction. Regency apparently looked up a credit card number I had used previously for another auction and took it upon themselves to charge it without asking. |
gliderpilotuk Member Posts: 3398 From: London, UK Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 05-01-2009 02:43 PM
Seems my old card was charged on April 19th. No confirmation of winnings; no invoice; no request for address; no indication of shipping date... |
ilbasso Member Posts: 1522 From: Greensboro, NC USA Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 05-01-2009 03:19 PM
My winning item arrived Certified Mail today. |