Is It My Imagination?

[jacqualina]

Is it my imagination, or are the auctions on Gems/Rocks getting longer and longer so that they just stick at the, obviously, previously decided minimum price? I feel that the 'no clock' boast becomes somewhat irrelevant if this is the case.
In the past on Rocks, they never waited for too long, if an item wasn't selling, to drop the price. Now they seem to reach a certain price and that's more or less it - they wait until the item has sold, never mind how long that might take (except perhaps when Steve is on).
Has anyone else noticed this or am I barking up the wrong tree? .

 

[loobi]

Woof woof ......thats the sound of me barking up that tree with you!!!!!! I have had an obsession with this for a while now ....... agree totally on the clock point, may as well be honest with us. Some presenters have been heard to say - I am not going a penny lower - this surely goes against their falling auction promise in the VT ads they run. I have asked it a few times on here but failed totally to get any kind of response from anyone at rocks/gems

...speaking of those people at rocks/gems - looks like comments dont get responses any more

 

[argeybargey]

I think these sections of the forum have become too negative for their sensitivities. They have plenty of customers now so why bother with us? <a href="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fwww.smileycentral.com%252F%253Fpartner%253DZSzeb008%255FZNxpt484YYGB%2526i%253D4%252F4%255F14%255F6%2526feat%253Dprof/page.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_14_6.gif" alt="SmileyCentral.com" border="0"><img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D4%252F4_14_6%2526uiv%253D3.0/image.gif"></a> xxxxxxxxx

 

[Meeshoo]

Is it my imagination, or are the auctions on Gems/Rocks getting longer and longer so that they just stick at the, obviously, previously decided minimum price? I feel that the 'no clock' boast becomes somewhat irrelevant if this is the case.
In the past on Rocks, they never waited for too long, if an item wasn't selling, to drop the price. Now they seem to reach a certain price and that's more or less it - they wait until the item has sold, never mind how long that might take (except perhaps when Steve is on).
Has anyone else noticed this or am I barking up the wrong tree? .

Yes. Totally agree.

They take it to a price where (normally) they'll still be making a profit. I think on a few items they'll take a small loss but it won't be huge. So, in essence, it's a reverse auction to a point! There is always a hard stop! It makes for painful and slooowwwwwww viewing sometimes.

There are fors and againsts having a clock. To be honest, I prefer having one because it moves things along and they have to crash faster. Have you noticed how long they talk before crashing? It's sooooo frustrating. When TJC first started they didn't have a clock and the main complaint was how slow things moved. When they introduced the clock it got much better and succinct.

 

[Meeshoo]

I think these sections of the forum have become too negative for their sensitivities. They have plenty of customers now so why bother with us? <a href="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fwww.smileycentral.com%252F%253Fpartner%253DZSzeb008%255FZNxpt484YYGB%2526i%253D4%252F4%255F14%255F6%2526feat%253Dprof/page.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_14_6.gif" alt="SmileyCentral.com" border="0"><img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D4%252F4_14_6%2526uiv%253D3.0/image.gif"></a> xxxxxxxxx

Ah but typically we represent the "general" view! So it's a bit silly not to take on board feedback. Mind you, we know they read this AND will act behind the scenes if it makes sense to do so (for example, I know that John B acted on our comments about the idiosyncracies of the website).

Wish they would act on the views expressed on presenting styles - unfortunately the screeching, wailing and general misleading continues! See my post about comparisons on Iclaud's 3 year old thread!

 

[argeybargey]

I'd rather they didn't bother with these so-called falling auctions at all, and that applies to all channels. Let's just be having the price and get on with it. There's no fun to be had when you know where a piece is going so what on earth's the point. The only benefit I can see is to the channel, who can then freely up the price whenever they choose. Also the general regulations are lighter on auctions. xxxxxxxx

 

[argeybargey]

Ah but typically we represent the "general" view! So it's a bit silly not to take on board feedback. Mind you, we know they read this AND will act behind the scenes if it makes sense to do so (for example, I know that John B acted on our comments about the idiosyncracies of the website).

Wish they would act on the views expressed on presenting styles - unfortunately the screeching, wailing and general misleading continues! See my post about comparisons on Iclaud's 3 year old thread!

Yes, but why I wonder. For our comfort and enjoyment? I'll bet only in so far as a difficult website is discouraging to customers. Using your customers as quality control is a pretty poor show in my opinion. xxxxxxxxx

 

[iclaudipuss]

It's definitely not your imagination, Jacqualina, you are absolutely right. Items go to exactly the same price whenever they are on, and the notion of it being a genuine falling auction is a load of tripe. I could impress people with my amaaaazing psychic powers just by predicting the final price of auctions on Gems/Rocks. Great example yesterday when Scott was auctioning a paraiba colour apatite ring and he kept wittering on: "I'm going to chip away at this price, pound by pound, until you're satisfied with the price onscreen." I cynically, or psychically, depending upon your viewpoint...predicted that the final price would be £24 since that was the price it had gone to the previous 2 times I had seen it. Was I right? I was indeed, and I was reminded of a 1970s tv programme called The Amazing World Of Kreskin where a wonderfully psychic, (or cynical), chap displayed similar feats of cognitive genius, and I eagerly await my own television show where I will astound you with my ability to correctly 'guess' every end price in every auction on Rocks and Gems. Mind you, the prices have become so laughably predictable that even my senile cat, Bunty, gets it right 9 times out of 10, and believe me, there ain't much this dotty feline gets right, so that tells you summat, eh?

 

[iclaudipuss]

Yes, but why I wonder. For our comfort and enjoyment? I'll bet only in so far as a difficult website is discouraging to customers. Using your customers as quality control is a pretty poor show in my opinion. xxxxxxxxx

'ere, I can't see that the website's changed at all, what am I missing? I'm still finding that when I attempt to search for an item, the pages change and the same things come up over and over again, yet the piece I'm looking for remains strangely elusive. I can't see why it's so difficult to have the usual search bar and find exactly what you want in a fraction of the time. Also, it's still the case that only certain items can be requested for tv auctions, anything else is auctioned online and is, generally, prohibitively expensive. I've seen several items finish £40+ higher than they do on tv presentations. The customer's being short-changed here, literally (ooo, just call me Ali Young...) and figuratively.

 

[argeybargey]

'ere, I can't see that the website's changed at all, what am I missing? I'm still finding that when I attempt to search for an item, the pages change and the same things come up over and over again, yet the piece I'm looking for remains strangely elusive. I can't see why it's so difficult to have the usual search bar and find exactly what you want in a fraction of the time. Also, it's still the case that only certain items can be requested for tv auctions, anything else is auctioned online and is, generally, prohibitively expensive. I've seen several items finish £40+ higher than they do on tv presentations. The customer's being short-changed here, literally (ooo, just call me Ali Young...) and figuratively.

Wouldn't have a clue daahling, don't use it meself. Exits smugly. <a href="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fwww.smileycentral.com%252F%253Fpartner%253DZSzeb008%255FZNxpt484YYGB%2526i%253D23%252F23%255F28%255F100%2526feat%253Dprof/page.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/23/23_28_100.gif" alt="SmileyCentral.com" border="0"><img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D23%252F23_28_100%2526uiv%253D3.0/image.gif"></a> xxxxxxx

 

[iclaudipuss]

Wouldn't have a clue daahling, don't use it meself. Exits smugly. <a href="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fwww.smileycentral.com%252F%253Fpartner%253DZSzeb008%255FZNxpt484YYGB%2526i%253D23%252F23%255F28%255F100%2526feat%253Dprof/page.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/23/23_28_100.gif" alt="SmileyCentral.com" border="0"><img border="0" src="http://plugin.smileycentral.com/http%253A%252F%252Fimgfarm%252Ecom%252Fimages%252Fnocache%252Ftr%252Ffw%252Fsmiley%252Fsocial%252Egif%253Fi%253D23%252F23_28_100%2526uiv%253D3.0/image.gif"></a> xxxxxxx

I don't think I'll be making many more attempts meself, even my seemingly limitless patience has limits, don'cha know? xxx

 

[iclaudipuss]

Now here's a coincidence: that same paraiba coloured apatite ring I was talking about earlier has just been auctioned again. End price: £24. What a shocker!

 

[Meeshoo]

Now here's a coincidence: that same paraiba coloured apatite ring I was talking about earlier has just been auctioned again. End price: £24. What a shocker!

IClaud - our resident psychic! :rock:

 

[iclaudipuss]

IClaud - our resident psychic! :rock:

That's me - my powers are uncanny!