Ah, the high tech world of computers, where we can now be disappointed on scales we never once thought possible.
I found out belatedly about the cast of “The Simpsons” doing a live reading of an episode (followed by a Q&A with Matt Groening) as part of the comedy fair in Montreal. I tried to get tickets so I could take my teen daughter, Gwen. Sold out. Gwen suggested I check on E-bay. Sure enough, someone was selling two tickets. I put a pretty high bid on them and had them locked up until an hour or so before the end of the auction…which I wasn’t home for because I was out with my youngest daughter, Ariel. And someone swooped in at the last minute and grabbed them. Entertained one daughter, let down another.
I know all’s fair and everything, but since Gwen isn’t coming with me to San Diego, this was going to be our big dad-and-daughter outing.
Anyone have two tickets they don’t need?
PAD
Funny you should mention– I don’t have tickets, but I am down at the National Auctioneers Association convention in Florida, working on a way that you will avoid getting sniped like that.
Watch this space.
I guess I’m one of those folks who still doesn’t get it. Why is sniping considered so evil? When I go to an auction, I think about the highest amount I’m willing to pay for the item. That’s how much I bid. If someone outbids me, whether it’s a day before the auction ends or a millisecond, they are still committing to pay more than I’m willing to. I’m interested in the opposing viewpoint though, so please educate me.
This may seem obvious, but have you checked with any travel agents or hotels in Montreal? Lots of times they’ll have packages for things like that.
“I am… working on a way that you will avoid getting sniped like that.”
I already know a way: Be willing to bid more than the other bidders.
I’m with Norman and Corey on this one, since I have been in PAD’s shoes before (well, not really, ever since the retraining order), but I have lost a piece of original art by $.50 because I wasn’t at my computer when the auction ended.
From then on, I decided early in the auction the max I would spend on something, placed the bid, and walked away. I relied on the e-bay e-mail system to tell me if I won or not. That way I wouldn’t know if I was outbid by a dollar or fifty.
Joe
Maybe your new “friend” Ron Zimmerman could help you out with his fancy Hollywood connections…
Well, how about that. Will Lopez wrote to me and referred me to a totally different ticket purchase website than I used the first time. Either that or they suddenly freed up some seats. Bottom line is, son of a gun, that one came up with two tickets in no time flat…at considerably less than the Ebay tickets would have run.
So it all worked out.
PAD
Glad you got tickets. But I am very curious what Glenn and the NAA are coming up with to prevent bidders from outbidding other bidders in auctions.
(Though I have heard complaints before about computer programs used to literally go to an auction at the last possible second and bid…which can be what the NAA is planning on stopping…just a guess)
This of course makes me start to wonder what would happen if two opposing bidders start using such a program. Who would win? Or would it simply cause such a huge feedback loop that it’s the end of the online world as we know it?
And with that I bid thee a fond farewell for now.
Snipers are frustrating but it’s part of the “auction game”.
I wish i was in my hometown of Montreal to see it. Love the Simpsons and love the Just for Laughs festival.
sire note, check out Montreal at http://www.montrealcam.com