Changes afoot at Rick Latona Auctions - Firm Reserves, an apology to Proxibid and a fat lady that wants to sing but can't yet
POSTED BY Rick Latona IN Featured

http://www.ricklatona.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/picresized_1239250225_fatladysinging.jpg*The fat lady isn't singing yet.

I'm going to write this article in reverse of the title. First, let's talk about fat ladies. The extended adult auction is still running. If you visit proxibid.com/ricklatona you can bid on names up until Sunday. An important change has been made to how this will work which is the subject of the rest of this article.

Much has been said about the interview I did with Domain Name Wire the other day. Since that interview, I've had time to reflect and really analyze what went wrong and what went right at our live auction. On hindsight, things could have gone much worse. We did manage to put up 120k in sales which considering the obstacles and lack of action in the room, could have been a lot worse.

I am honoring my promise to those who had names sell for less than $500. I am adding $300 to each of their payouts.

The biggest point I'd like to make is that I unfairly threw Proxibid under the bus for some of the things that happened. I was really frustrated by the fact that people couldn't bid more than the auctioneer was asking for; meaning that even if they were willing to pay the reserve, they couldn't unless they had someone bidding against them. It isn't right to blame that on proxybid.

Now I realize that the folks at Aftermarket had it right all along. In the 21st century, the days of starting auctions at below reserve to build momentum just need to come to an end. There is really only one way to make sure people who want a name make sure they can buy the name, even if they are the only one that wants it.

The opening bid must be set AT reserve. Starting immediately, all Rick Latona Auctions events will have 100% transparency on what the reserve is. Bidders will have to bid at least the reserve price to get in on the action. Only this will completely eliminate the problems.

Now, on the existing extended auction that is running at proxibid.com/ricklatona, we have already made this change. The actual reserve prices are all posted. The only bids that you will see that are less than reserve are bids that were placed before we made the change.

There is one last thing I would like to say on the subject. If you want a name but won't pay the reserve price but are willing to come in the same neighborhood, please contact us so that we can contact the seller and help you put a deal together.

  • dcmike77

    By stating the reserves your just stating the BIN price and by trying to solve this problem you've created another - lack of bidding. This isn't so much an issue in extended auctions as it is in live auctions.

    My advice to you may be to simply narrow the reserve range or consider something like bido, where if it doesn't sell you give money back.

    just thinking out loud.

  • http://www.nameshopping.com Eric Borgos

    The reserve is not like a BIN price because with a BIN price, the first person to take it at that price gets it for that price. I recently sold loco.com at an auction (not Proxybid) and it sold for over 50% more than my reserve price (my reserve was $35,000). The auction company set the opening price around 20% below my reserve, but I don't think that made much of a difference. It had several bidders and sold for the price it was "worth". I probably would have set a BIN price of $40,000 for it if I selling it on a site like Afternic, so I made significantly more by selling it for $55,500 at the auction. I think most of bidders were actually people who contacted me ahead of time about buying it, but it was worth paying the auction commission to get the highest price by having them bid against eachother. Also, even if I sold it for $40,000 myself I would have worried I was underselling, so having the market decide the price made me feel at least I sold it for what it was worth.

    Anyhow, my goal was not to just sell the domain for my reserve price (like a BIN), my hope was that I would get more than my reserve price by putting it up for auction.

  • E

    On the "Items I'm Watching" page, domain names are not being displayed properly. Someone at proxybid should have a look at this soon..

  • http://www.seolabs.info Nick J. West

    A domains value are and always will be subjective, however some are more so or less so than others. Some, simply have data to back up their perceived values.

  • http://www.RickLatona.com David Clements for Rick Latona Auctions

    E,

    Thank you for your comments. The "Items I'm Watching" page will display properly now.

  • AL

    Rick, you said you don't want to use Proxibid any longer because some people couldn't bid, right? 100% transparency doesn't change its unstable system.

    P.S. Congratulations on your kickthehabit.com, Rick. Are they really safer than traditional smoking? My dad could use some of those...

  • Dluzional

    "There is one last thing I would like to say on the subject. If you want a name but won’t pay the reserve price but are willing to come in the same neighborhood, please contact us so that we can contact the seller and help you put a deal together."

    Isn't this somewhat contradictory?, I mean, hopefully you're saying this for AFTER the auction closes?, and not while it's ongoing?
    which could also end up in a bidding war, depending on how many are willing to pay "in the neighbourhood", ....sounds like backroom politics

    Have to agree with dcmike on the "lack of bidding", which is the whole purpose of an auction is it not?

    The onus would have to go to the owner of the domain name I think.
    Start an auction at reserve, and have no bidding (which is then essentially a domain name for sale)
    or
    Start lower, and not meet the reserve, which would or should then tell the owner that he/she needs to lower their reserve.
    or
    Timing for the sale/auction is just not right.

  • http://Catnip.com Rick London

    Although starting at the reserve seems to make sense it will ONLY work IF the domains are of better quality and are priced realistically.

    If not, all you will have is a sale and not a true auction. A few domains will sell at the reserve and that's it.

    Rick needs to make 100% sure that the domains and prices are fair to attract more than one bidder. It will not easy to get many good domains as most sellers want far too much and are looking for that one specific buyer who wants the domain.

    I buy at Sotheby's, Christie's and many other top auctions and for the most part they will not accept items unless they feel they have a good chance of selling.

    Auctions needs to earn commissions so domains need to sell. I would be surprised if Rick can get 5 domains that will sell for over 100K and 10 that will sell for over 50K.

  • Rick Latona

    AL, the system isn't buggy. Proxibid is a leader in their field which is why we chose them in the first place. It has more to do with the rules of the system which doesn't allow a bidder to bid against themselves. If we ask for less than the reserve and the bidder bids, they can't bid again unless they get outbid. Therefore, the only solution to make sure someone gets the name if they are the only one that wants it is to start the bidding at reserve.

    As for the other question, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration won't allow me to answer that question.

  • Rick Latona

    Dluzional, yes that would happen after the auction and we would go to the owner.

    Rick London, we couldn't be more aware that our core responsibility is to make sure there are good names at the right reserves. That has always been the our job number 1 and won't change. I think all the auction companies are keenly aware of this point.

  • http://www.isquattedyour.eu Michele

    I wasn't overly concerned about the pricing etc., as I personally did a lot better as a buyer than I normally do :)

    However I could not access the live auction on my Mac. I tried for about 20 minutes and ended up switching to my Linux desktop instead.

    No matter which auction platform you decide to use in the future please please please do not do like SnapNames has done and choose a Windows only solution.

    Michele

  • http://www.RickLatona.com David Clements for Rick Latona Auctions

    Hi Michele,

    I have used Proxibid on a PC and on a Mac and I can say for sure that the system works well on both. Proxibid has live customer support that will also help walk you through any problems that you might be having to view the live sale. My suggestion is that since they are so big and have live sales nearly every day all day to log in and try to view one that is going. If you can't view it, call their customer support team at 877.505.7770 from inside the US and +1.402.505.7770 from outside the US.

    Please let me know if you have any other problems. You can reach me at david [at] davidclements-com.

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