Spink Live bidding system

[Nick 325]

I used Spink Live online bidding system for the first time today and although the bidding part of it seemed pretty responsive, the audio and video streams were a complete waste of time. The audio feed was providing about half a sentence every couple of minutes and the video feed was giving zero frames per hour (ie sod all).

Does it normally perform better than this? Or is it just my crappy broadband!

[Rob 3,002]

I used Spink Live online bidding system for the first time today and although the bidding part of it seemed pretty responsive, the audio and video streams were a complete waste of time. The audio feed was providing about half a sentence every couple of minutes and the video feed was giving zero frames per hour (ie sod all).

Does it normally perform better than this? Or is it just my crappy broadband!

None of the crap belongs to you. It is entirely the property of Spink. Today was better than the sale 3 months ago. Then the system kept halting intermittently and updates were in the form of rapidly scrolling lots (say 10 or so). Consequently in that sale I was unable to bid on a coin that sold for about £150 less than I was prepared to pay not to mention a whole raft of tokens that I wanted, which p'd me off no end. Today was much better, though as you say, still with the dire audio. Video I can do without, but hearing the auctioneer makes life a lot easier. To eliminate the problem, I submitted a bid in advance for the piece I specifically wanted and it even demonstrated that the system was coherent as it told viewers that I was winning by giving my geographical location as part of the feed. First time I've seen that.

Edited June 23, 2011 by Rob

[Red Riley 2]

I used Spink Live online bidding system for the first time today and although the bidding part of it seemed pretty responsive, the audio and video streams were a complete waste of time. The audio feed was providing about half a sentence every couple of minutes and the video feed was giving zero frames per hour (ie sod all).

Does it normally perform better than this? Or is it just my crappy broadband!

None of the crap belongs to you. It is entirely the property of Spink. Today was better than the sale 3 months ago. Then the system kept halting intermittently and updates were in the form of rapidly scrolling lots (say 10 or so). Consequently in that sale I was unable to bid on a coin that sold for about £150 less than I was prepared to pay not to mention a whole raft of tokens that I wanted, which p'd me off no end. Today was much better, though as you say, still with the dire audio. Video I can do without, but hearing the auctioneer makes life a lot easier. To eliminate the problem, I submitted a bid in advance for the piece I specifically wanted and it even demonstrated that the system was coherent as it told viewers that I was winning by giving my geographical location as part of the feed. First time I've seen that.

All this is way out of reach to my unreliable coal-fired rural broadband.

[Nick 325]

I used Spink Live online bidding system for the first time today and although the bidding part of it seemed pretty responsive, the audio and video streams were a complete waste of time. The audio feed was providing about half a sentence every couple of minutes and the video feed was giving zero frames per hour (ie sod all).

Does it normally perform better than this? Or is it just my crappy broadband!

None of the crap belongs to you. It is entirely the property of Spink. Today was better than the sale 3 months ago. Then the system kept halting intermittently and updates were in the form of rapidly scrolling lots (say 10 or so). Consequently in that sale I was unable to bid on a coin that sold for about £150 less than I was prepared to pay not to mention a whole raft of tokens that I wanted, which p'd me off no end. Today was much better, though as you say, still with the dire audio. Video I can do without, but hearing the auctioneer makes life a lot easier. To eliminate the problem, I submitted a bid in advance for the piece I specifically wanted and it even demonstrated that the system was coherent as it told viewers that I was winning by giving my geographical location as part of the feed. First time I've seen that.

Thanks. Glad to know there is no fault with my broadband which is not high bandwidth due to being quite a distance from the local exchange. In this instance I couldn't use commission bids as I only had a small budget and couldn't risk multiple bids that might exceed that budget if I won too many items (fat chance!).

[Nick 325]

I used Spink Live online bidding system for the first time today and although the bidding part of it seemed pretty responsive, the audio and video streams were a complete waste of time. The audio feed was providing about half a sentence every couple of minutes and the video feed was giving zero frames per hour (ie sod all).

Does it normally perform better than this? Or is it just my crappy broadband!

None of the crap belongs to you. It is entirely the property of Spink. Today was better than the sale 3 months ago. Then the system kept halting intermittently and updates were in the form of rapidly scrolling lots (say 10 or so). Consequently in that sale I was unable to bid on a coin that sold for about £150 less than I was prepared to pay not to mention a whole raft of tokens that I wanted, which p'd me off no end. Today was much better, though as you say, still with the dire audio. Video I can do without, but hearing the auctioneer makes life a lot easier. To eliminate the problem, I submitted a bid in advance for the piece I specifically wanted and it even demonstrated that the system was coherent as it told viewers that I was winning by giving my geographical location as part of the feed. First time I've seen that.

All this is way out of reach to my unreliable coal-fired rural broadband.

Roll on having a national fibre-optic network...

[Fubar 71]

Our local auction house does a live feed for their antiques and fine arts sales.

I've always found that the audio and video feeds are a waste of time and that it's best to follow it with just the picture of the current lot displayed.

The delays on the other feeds are such that the hammer has fallen before the audio or video registers it.

It can get extremely confusing, especially if your broadband decides to slow down because of local demand.

Best not bother if your local school is having an internet based lesson.

[Colin G. 147]

Our local auction house does a live feed for their antiques and fine arts sales.

I've always found that the audio and video feeds are a waste of time and that it's best to follow it with just the picture of the current lot displayed.

The delays on the other feeds are such that the hammer has fallen before the audio or video registers it.

It can get extremely confusing, especially if your broadband decides to slow down because of local demand.

Best not bother if your local school is having an internet based lesson.

I have to admit the audio/video feeds for the American auction houses are generally very good

[Coppers 57]

Our local auction house does a live feed for their antiques and fine arts sales.

I've always found that the audio and video feeds are a waste of time and that it's best to follow it with just the picture of the current lot displayed.

The delays on the other feeds are such that the hammer has fallen before the audio or video registers it.

It can get extremely confusing, especially if your broadband decides to slow down because of local demand.

Best not bother if your local school is having an internet based lesson.

I have to admit the audio/video feeds for the American auction houses are generally very good

The audio for the DNW auctions works quite well.

[VickySilver 775]

I second that one as there was only an inconsequetial lag here or there with temporary connection losses. Unfortunately I had left one bid with them the day before and still have not figured out if I won as now the lot is reported as unsold whereas it had been shown sold at my top bid previously (huh?)...

[Rob 3,002]

In this instance I couldn't use commission bids as I only had a small budget and couldn't risk multiple bids that might exceed that budget if I won too many items (fat chance!).

Most auction houses will let you submit bids up with a set maximum total value of winnings.

[Nick 325]

In this instance I couldn't use commission bids as I only had a small budget and couldn't risk multiple bids that might exceed that budget if I won too many items (fat chance!).

Most auction houses will let you submit bids up with a set maximum total value of winnings.

I wasn't aware of that. Thanks.

[Cerbera100 0]

I second that one as there was only an inconsequetial lag here or there with temporary connection losses. Unfortunately I had left one bid with them the day before and still have not figured out if I won as now the lot is reported as unsold whereas it had been shown sold at my top bid previously (huh?)...

Possibly didnt make reserve...?