Yesterday afternoon, for those of you who may have missed it, Wally Kolenda, better known as “Auction Wally” ran what I believe was the very first LIVE Auction on Bonanzle!
Wally, for those of you who don’t know him, is a licensed Massachsetts auctioneer who’s been building a brand online for quite a while now. If you Google AuctionWally, you’ll see what I mean… or you can visit his homepage here.
The Bonanzle Auction started at 1:00 PM Eastern time and was preceded by an hour’s preview session where Wally audibly went through and described each lot, and answered any questions that those in the auction house may have had.
You ask – “what auction house” – and “how was it live, how did he describe the items, how did one hear the previews”. Admittedly it took a bit of hacking together and some skills to really “go to” the auction. But none of it was above the skills of anyone here. If you are able to list an item in your Bonanzle booth, have a speaker on your computer, and just a few minutes patience… you can do it. I did and really enjoyed both setting it up… and of course, participating in the LIVE Auction
It seems to me that it works best if you have two browser windows open on your computer. I had one open looking at Wally’s booth on Bonanzle (http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/auctionwally). In the second window I had Wally’s TalkShoe feed and this is where you could hear Wally’s auctioneer’s chant. (The rhythmic chant used by most auctioneers is aimed at holding the attention of the audience and keeping the auction moving at a steady pace. The chant is a series of numbers (dollar amounts) connected by “filler” words to give the buyer time to think between bids). You can even go to TalkShoe now and download a recording of yesterday’s full event. So essentially you listened to Wally on TalkShoe… and you placed your bids in the Bonanzle chat window in Wally’s booth. – Simple!
Despite a few minor technical difficulties at the start, all went extremely well. The overall session, including the one hour preview went for some three and one-half hours. During that time there were as many as 50 “buyers” in Wally’s both at one point and he sold some 14-15 lots – even a few items of Ephemera – at prices that honestly in some cases amazed me!
Even I entered the excitement and placed a bit on several items…. one of which I won for a very fair $19. Just like a real live auction, you had to be quick, you had to listen carefully, and you had to pick your moment to bid… all of which added to the fun of the LIVE Auction.
From what I have heard since the LIVE Auction ended, Mark Dorsey of Bonanzle even stopped in on the LIVE Auction at one point.. and is now back at work with his team in Bonanzle HQ finding a way to more seamlessly integrate the audio, the bidding, and the selling into the Bonanzle platform. Let’s hope he is successful… and speedy.
If you missed the excitement.. and it WAS exciting… Wally has scheduled another LIVE Auction for Saturday February 7th at the same time – 1:00 PM Eastern. Based on the response yesterday, I’d expect another very successful event. So take some time over the next few days to get familiar with TalkShoe, the chat room in Wally’s booth, and the preview of items that he will be putting up on the next auction block.
I’ll be there.. I hope to see you there as well!
I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the encore it deserves.
Tom
Click here to see my current Bonanzle items
Technorati tags: Bonanzle, Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, The Ephemera Network, Auction Wally, Bonanzle
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