From

Location

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Date Posted

Southeast

Every year we have several growers who bid and never send the money. We have even had one person who did this and came back the foloowing year to the auction. Do people have an opinion on how to handle this situation, or what has been done in the past.Thanks David

2/9/2008 10:25:44 AM

Dresden, Ohio

David,

Possibly make everyone who intends to bid send a deposit via PayPal. I know PayPal charges a fee, but I believe when you refund money, PayPal reimburses that fee.

Also, try to make the auction private to pre-registered members somehow.

The only problem I see with my suggestions is that it might scare a lot of people away, which means less bidders, which means the clubs get screwed in the long run.

It's too bad that it takes a handful of people to screw things up.
-Jeremy

2/9/2008 10:58:42 AM

Ohio

Some type of preapproval or identification process should be in place. If anything just to make sure it is not some 10 year old just messing around. If a minor wishes to purchase seeds at auction, then mom,dad or their guardian needs to preregister for them. Then there is the international preregistration issue as well that would need to be addressed as well. There is got to be a way track who is who at these auctions. This is a wonderful venue to get some nice seeds and support the clubs at the same time. There will "always" be a few out there that will cause some type of issue.

2/9/2008 12:36:49 PM

Ohio

well, pre-registereing is fine and dandy. But i think you could still get stuck.
May be if we give the people so long, say 30 days to pay. Then if they dont pay, we could just post it on big pumpkins. "We have a seed from our auction that wasnt payed for,The bid was 30 dollars. Would anyone like to offer that or more"

I dont know if that sounds stupid or not ,but atleast you may get your money out of it.

2/9/2008 12:50:03 PM

Long Island,New York

Well...heres a novel idea.....produce the names !

2/9/2008 12:59:25 PM

Ohio

I like that idea too,but then you got people useing false names on here.I think that goes on enough already. lol

2/9/2008 1:01:57 PM

Wood River, IL (kennyw_49@yahoo.com)

I like the idea of giving winning bidders 30 days to pay. And if they don't there names should be posted here along that lot being posted for sale. Maybe we could talk Ken D. to set up someplace here on PB.com we could pre-register.

Also the clubs should keep on top of this list and if they find the deadbeat bidding during a auction decline that bid and call them out. Just my opinion, Kenny

2/9/2008 2:10:42 PM

Eddyz@efirehose.net

I agree with G, If you allow people to get away with it now, it will only increase in the future. The moneys all go to clubs which is returned to the growers, 100%.
Eddy

2/9/2008 2:31:11 PM

Johnston, R.I.

Great idea glenn

2/9/2008 3:09:20 PM

Sparta, NC

i think you need to names names

2/9/2008 3:13:06 PM

ordinary,VA

I agree with Glenn&Sam...than every club knows who pays and who doesnt...
take the name of the second place bidder.than offer him the seed if your winner doesnt pay up with in the stated time..
had that happen to me two years ago...I was more than happy to cut a check!!

2/9/2008 3:39:40 PM

Clayton, Ohio, USA

When anyone writes a bad check at our local convenience store they tape the check to the cash register for the whole community to see. I think most people plan to pay, they just get carried away in the heat of the moment and bid more than they can afford - kinda like gamblers at a casino.

2/9/2008 3:48:27 PM

Southeast

Each time this has happened the person has identified themselves when providing
info at the time of the auction. I have the names but dont relish posting them since that type of behavior usually creates a fiasco. I know this must happen to other clubs as well. Im looking at all the suggestions here at this point. Thanks so far. Dave

2/9/2008 4:25:48 PM

Dresden, Ohio

What about making auctions open to people who belong to a pumpkin organization or club? This would increase memberships in clubs, help produce more money for each club, and the penalty could be you lose your membership if you don't pay. Just a thought.
-Jeremy

2/9/2008 4:53:21 PM

Minnesota(dw447@fastmail.fm)

Dave,
Are you having trouble contacting them? I agree, not to bring names into the equation publically. Maybe there is an honest explanaion they can give, when contacted. If the original bidder isn't able to pay, or to be contacted; after a reasonable time, I think offering the seed to the next bidder may be the way to go.

2/9/2008 4:58:34 PM

Brooklyn Corner, Nova Scotia

I agree with your decision not to post the names, at least initially. If the person has a legitimate reason why they can't honor their bid, then fine. I don't imagine you would have very many repeat offenders with legitimate reasons. The club doing the auction may wish to consider a penalty, like banning the offender from participating(bidding) for a year. That decision could be made by the club reps who would then contact the offender with their decision. If the offender wishes to make it public then that would be their choice. Just a thought.

2/9/2008 6:10:13 PM

western PA

You could always expose them in a manner that doesnt sham them.

A simple:
"John Doe, please contact me for the payment of $50 for lot 14, (the 1788 Bosworth), it has been 15 days since auction, without any confirmation"

2/9/2008 6:14:11 PM

Farmerville, Louisiana

I agree with JEREMY "If you can't pay then don't play"

2/9/2008 8:01:33 PM

Boulder County Colorado USA planet Earth

I agree post it say ok first person to agree to $?,??? for a 1068 gets it. Fare is fare

2/9/2008 9:03:57 PM

Utah

I can't believe there are people out here who do this kind of crap !!!

once we had a guy withdraw his bid in a BP post a few days after the auction was over. Some other people gave him some grief - which I was happy to see. But I just didn't want to have the time to deal with it... so I told him it was ok. I figured when push comes to shove you can't make them pay... I thought it would have been more of hassle than it was worth.
Unfortunately... it's part of running an auction.

Kenny and doug14 said what I was going to say about having a time limit to get the money in... then going to the next highest bidder or reposting the lot. I would give the winner a couple of weeks to a month to send the money in ... after that move on.

I think if some one didn't pay last year and then showed up again this year ...then you should exclude them from the bidding. right after they bid - just post saying there bid isn't accepted because they bid last year and never paid.

Personally I wouldn't have any problem if clubs posted offending persons.

gordon

2/9/2008 9:31:05 PM

Eddyz@efirehose.net

Suggestion
Every club out there has a web site, Post the auction results with the winners name, as the money's come in, mark it paid. If they haven't paid after an agreed amount of time, then do a post on BP. and say auction lot # up for rebid, as previous winner has not claimed.
This would be a very quick and fast fix, and if I wanted to see who won the lot and did not pay, all I have to do is log onto your club web site.
If you don't have a web site use the growers diary on BP.
a bit of persuasive honesty.
Eddy

2/9/2008 10:06:30 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Dave,

We obviously need to discuss this. I was not aware we had dead beat bidders this year. The last time this happened we gave the offender some time & he came through but not before we warned all of the upcoming auction sponsors.

Clubs can get as ugly as we want. But this might back-lash & we'd get branded as "bullies".

When I ran a wholesale warehouse in NY we used to place all bounced checks (marked NSF by the bank) under the glass of our counter top. ALL of the other NYC area suppliers did the same thing so nobody's secrets stayed secret for long. If the check was worth enough money I'd serve papers & have the deadbeat arrested. Over $5000 is a felony so they get paid REAL fast.

It might not have been legal, but there was even a spreadsheet of slow payers that was regularly transferred between competing firms. These competitors might burn one another's trucks by night, but during business hours they cooperated to protect the bottom lines! LOL

Seed auctions should never need to come to this. I'll talk with Ken about tracking ISP addresses. If he can't do it here, we can do it on our own website. Then the offenders can be blocked without concern for the ever popular practice of setting up pseudo-screen names.

I hope this is an isolated incident. The fellowship of pumpkin people is typically strong & based on hard earned TRUST.

2/10/2008 2:35:59 AM

Long Island,New York

Isolated incident??? Talk about PC ! Steve...thats o not like you. Isolated incident? EVERY year we deal with the post auction posts about deadbeats...that is not isolated...its almost pervasive. Why the resistence? The bailing buyer has the same forum to answer back if he is listed as a deadbeat. We are a very forgiving forum, I'm sure a legit excuse will be accepted by most.( around here even an illigitimate excuse will be embraced by some.) Why get screwed, then allow the clubs auctions after you get screwed by the same people or the same way ?????? No deterrant= no order.

2/10/2008 9:58:52 AM

Trumbull, CT 06611, USA

Dave and I know who they are. We dont need isp addresses, fbi or the cia to get involved. We all know who most of these guys are. They are bidding year in and year out.

Some do get into financial trouble and that is ok...becasue they are forgiven. We had our auction in November and our auction is still not closed....

Dave, I told you being the seed distributor would be fun!

Next on deck for next year is you Steve....lol

2/10/2008 10:45:35 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Dave & Ray,

Send the list of names & emails to me.

2/11/2008 12:23:41 AM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

I remember 2 or 3 years ago, when there were deadbeat bidders, the clubs told each other about it and kept the deadbeats from bidding, black listed if you would.... I for one have been part of several auctions so far this year and havent heard from anyone with any names.
These people should realize that these funds go right back into the growers pockets at most weigh offs and Patch tours, your not just stiffing the auctioneer, or the club, you are stiffing possibly the only source of income the club has to put the money back into your pockets.
Just like bad seed traders get black listed behind the scenes, deadbeat bidders should be the same, If a club politely asks you to refrain from bidding, thats their choice.
Just my opinion.

2/11/2008 6:26:43 AM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

I agree Ray about getting into financial trouble, but if a pattern is forming with these financial troubles at 2 or 3 auctions, then that is irresponsible.
The Clubs should be sharing these names.
Tom

2/11/2008 6:28:36 AM

Santa Rosa, CA

I hope that those who bid & don't pay is a small percent. While Nick does a great job of posting the results, perhaps someone from the club holding the auction should post the Lot #, seed package, price bid, screen name and FULL NAME. The Kentucky group had a great posting after last night's auction. This way, everybody goes to the auction knowing their name will be out there for all to see if they don't pay.

2/11/2008 10:49:46 AM

President - GPC

Like Eddy suggested The RMGVG will listed the paid and unpaid names on the website for auditing purposes.
Final results are there now. I feel I owe it to my club members to account for all funds and transactions held in representation of the club. Everything above the board and accounted for. The Club then kind of runs itself that way IMHO.
Guess we will see about our first auction....Thanks for the help and food for thought.

2/11/2008 10:50:36 AM

Danville, CA (petman2@yahoo.com)

Everyone runs into trouble and every bidder should be given the opportunity to explain...once. Let the club work it out but I would urge understanding. That said....

Ebay has the same issue and "negative feedback" works.

If changing nicks are a problem, limits should be put on the number of times it can change and limit it to one or two per person.

If they don't pay within a certain time, offer to the next highest bidder. A PIA, but will probably get it sold and collected.

I agree with Tom that if a deadbeat does bid during an auction, a polite request to refrain should stop the bidding and will also identify them to all who watch.

The Scarlet Letter will work... My .02

2/12/2008 12:45:31 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

If you are financially strapped and bidding on pumpkin seeds. I think it goes a lot deeper than not being able to pay. It comes down to common sense and accountibility. I do not go to a Casino. Loose all my money than try to get my money back. Because I needed it to feed my animals or child. No explanation is acceptable. You bid ,you pay. don't pay you pay the hard way. To many pitty parties for some people.

2/12/2008 1:41:03 PM

Ri

Seed auction complications...wait three weeks...package those that have paid...send emails to those that have not..wait a couple of days for a reply...process the responses...then

2/12/2008 6:29:58 PM