BreyerFest 2023 has gotten a lot of great reviews - people have expressed satisfaction, even happiness, with the event. But like any large event that brings people together from all over, there have been a few examples of those who would be dishonest and steal, find loopholes to do what they want, or who would act in a way that is patently unfair to others who are following the rules.
Sadly, the Live Auction took a large hit this year with $42,500 that was to go to charities lost to bad bidding. Speculation on social media is that there may have been some shill bidding going on, and as I look at some of those bids, I can see why that accusation has been raised.
The bids I find most suspicious are those that wildly dropped, such as Lot 22, the Pegasus Newsworthy. It was at $23,000 online prior to the auction. There were no in-person bids and no more online bids when the bidding started. When the online bidder failed to pay, the next highest bidder was $6,000, a drop of $17,000. That smacks of shill bidding to a lot of people, including me.
Look at Lots 12 and 19 and you will see more huge drops between the highest bidder and the second highest bidder. Things that make you pause.
A really sad thing is that it is very possible that someone who ended up being the second highest bidder and won a model innocently placed a bid and did nothing wrong. Shill bidding shines an unfair spotlight on them and sours their experience of winning a one of a kind auction model.
No doubt next year Breyer will make some changes, both to the way bidding occurs at the auction to the closing of loopholes that were exploited to even adding safety awareness measures or reminders to help prevent theft.
(To be fair, the loophole that was used was legal from a certain point of view. From others, it was not.)
And I hope those who were affected by the actions of those folks join us again next year and have a much better experience than they did in 2023.
I am aware that there is speculation about who may have been involved in the dishonesty, shill bidding, loophole exploitation, or theft. Comments naming these people will be deleted. Please be kind.
IMHO, it doesn't matter what you bid on or where you're bidding from...
ReplyDeleteIf you win - you PAY! period!
Agreed, though I will point out that Breyer are hamstringing themselves by not securing the credit of potential bidders before the auction begins. In many auctions where this much money is on the line it is common for bidders to prove their ability to pay, either by registering for their paddle with cash or some proof of payment. Issues like this would be why. Failure to pay ceases to be a problem because the auction is already holding the money. AJG
DeleteIsn't Stone having the same problem with their weekly Best Offer Models? Seems like it'd be easy to solve this problem by removing anonymity from the table. Once it's known who, easy enough for everyone to ignore whatever money they pretend to wave around. AJG
ReplyDeletewhat was the loop hole being exploited ? -Kat
ReplyDeleteCertain states have laws preventing residents from entering raffles, giveaways, etc. I think there are around 15 states with laws like that. Residents of those states are legally unable to enter the Diorama contest, raffles, etc. at BreyerFest. Breyer is aware of those laws and follows them. Many hobbyists in those states are disappointed that they are not able to enter, but follow their states' law about entering and do not enter the contests etc. A person who lived in a prohibited state entered anyway, claiming to own property in a legal state and saying that they visited it a few times a year, and that their stepmother lived there full time and there was nothing wrong with entering because of that. Their legal address, though, is in a state where entering isn't legal. They were aware of that and entered anyway, admitting that they had entered before and since no one had been upset, saw nothing wrong with it. It all came to light when this person actually won something big. As you might imagine, those who had followed Breyer's rules and their state laws were upset and feel it was unfair.
Deleteah, thank you
DeleteActually, I believe that person has a residence in two separate states. No loophole.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. I disagree.
DeleteA person may own a home or property in multiple states, but will only ever be a resident of one state. Each state has their own laws regarding residency but generally you must be living in the state for a certain number of months to change your residency. AJG
DeleteI own a residence in 2 different states. Spend 6 months at each but am considered a legal resident of only one as far as DL, voter registration, income tax etc. is concerned so I would assume that that is what the criteria is, or should be. I had no idea that certain states forbid entering raffles etc. - Kat
DeleteI own a home in two different states. I spend 6 months at each. My DL, voter registration, income tax returns and more make me a resident of only one. I would think that that would/should be the criteria used -Kat
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