Hard Close v/s Soft Close

With online auctions, do you prefer a hard close or a soft close?  Personally, I prefer a hard close. I like to snipe. Be sure to cast your vote in the poll above.

By soft close you mean, every bid increases the time X minutes?

Yeah I like to snipe it, just like ebay.

By soft close you mean, every bid increases the time X minutes?

Exactly.

Do guys think soft close auctions earn more money for the seller?

Absolutely!

soft close, i sell a lot more than i buy

soft close for selling hard close for buying

I got my first taste for soft close auctions the other day while bidding on a domain name at auction. I can officially say that I don't like soft close auctions. I won the domain, but I paid a small fortune it. The auction was about to close and I was the highest bidder at $300. Someone else bid and the clock reset to 5 minutes. A new bidder jumped in and the clock reset to 5 minutes again. 8 new bidders, 45 minutes and 47 bids later I won the auction at $2500.

I try to set a limit and stick to it during auctions; however, I can honestly say that my emotions got the best of me this time. Don't get me wrong, the domain is probably worth 10X what I paid for it, I just didn't expect it to go that high...which was probably naive of me since it's an exact match two word .com for one of the most popular new topics on the internet. 

Anyway, to make a long story short, this was a very stressful but valuable learning experience. I can definitely see how soft close auctions make sellers more money. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be surprised if online storage auction services moved to this format very soon. 

Yes, I actually heard someone say Storage Battles was going to move to a soft close format which allows someone who had the high bid up until the last few seconds to jump back in when someone tries to sniper the auction in the last seconds. They said they would extend the auction for 3 more minutes and I assume that means anyone can jump back in. You can see how bad this can get. Online units are already on the high side in my opinion. If this rumor holds true, they will only get more expensive, especially when competing bidders recognize each others bidding name.

I will stop bidding if they go to a soft close... simple at that... I'd rather go fight it out at real auctions.  although I will admit I do hate getting outbid with 10 seconds left and lose a unit. but that is the chance I take.

Depending on which side you're standing on I suppose? It looks like the general consensus is that hard closes work for the buyer and soft closes work for the seller. Unfortunately I don't think we have much of a choice unless we run the auction…

Depending on which side you're standing on I suppose? It looks like the general consensus is that hard closes work for the buyer and soft closes work for the seller. Unfortunately I don't think we have much of a choice unless we run the auction…

If buyers prefer a particular format, it's in your best interest, as a seller, to appeal to the masses. Storage Battles experimented with this format a while back. Took them all of a week to realize that people didn't like it. But who knows what the future holds. Perhaps Online Storage Auctions will include it as an optional format.   

There is no denying that soft closes bring in more money for the seller; however, some of these auctions can be extended for hours costing buyers valuable time. 

I wonder if buyers would be open to a penny auction format?