Ibookcollector
The group of lots I was interested in came up, I bid on the first lot and was successful. The next lot arrived but "Passed" appeared on my screen and within a few seconds the next lot had arrived, I was able to bid on that and was successful. What had happened to Lot 541 that I had been keen to purchase. "Passed" usually appears when nobody bids on the lot or the reserve has not been reached, but in this case I had seen no bidding take place. A friend who was with me had watched the action unfold and she agreed that Lot 541 with "Passed" had appeared and the next Lot arrived within a few seconds.
On Tuesday, I telephoned the Saleroom.com and a very helpful lady told me that indeed according to their records Lot 541 had been "Passed". And checking on their website under "auction prices realized" I could see that this lot had not been sold. So I telephoned the auction house who to my surprise informed me that Lot 541 had indeed been sold, on the Internet.
The Saleroom.com can't help as the auction house were actually operating the computer equipment at the auction! But it would appear that the person operating the Saleroom.com software must have pressed the "Passed" button which allowed other Internet platforms to bid whilst knocking out anybody from the Saleroom.com. I am not sure why this wasn't spotted and the auction for the lot restarted – I have seen this done at auctions over the years when there have been problems.
However what has concerned me is that while I was unable to bid and someone else did, a period of time must have elapsed – perhaps a room bid, an Internet bid or two, this must have taken time, 10-15 seconds at the minimum. But my computer showed the next Lot 542 appearing straightaway and within a few seconds I was bidding. So who was bidding live??
The auction house are too busy at the moment to look into this but promise to reply!
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