How long should we let auction items drag on?

Jun 29 15:22 UTC 2001

This item is for discussing policy on how long we should let auction
purchases drag on.  There are three ways this can happen:

1. If the buyer takes a long time to pay for an item,
2. If the buyer pays but the seller takes a long time to deliver an item, or
3. If the buyer pays but takes a long time to pick up an item.

All three of these cases have come up in the past, and the auctioneers have
dealt with them on a case-by-case basis.  In case 1, we generally give
buyers a couple of months to pay, and if they never do, ban them from making
bids in the future.  Sometimes we have asked the second-highest bidder on
an item if she'd still like it at the price she bid.

In case 2, we have usually waited until the buyer gets really upset, and
then refunded the money and banned the donor from future donation or
bidding. 

Case 3 is a bit trickier, since some might argue that once Grex gets paid,
delivery is a matter between the donor and buyer, and no longer our problem.
However, since the second auction we have made a committment to making sure
that all items get delivered, so that the Grex auction maintains a
reputation as someplace where you can count on getting what you pay for. 
That's why we refund money in case 2.  In case 3, though, the buyer is the
one who should be picking his item up, so it's a bit harder.

Each one of these situations is a headache for the auctioneers, so any
suggestions for dealing with them will be entertained.  I'd particularly
like to hear if there is a consensus on how long we should wait before
doing something in each of the cases.  I'm not crazy about letting things
drag on for many months, but there have been cases where people have paid
for things as much as 6 months after they bought them.  So cutting people
off earlier means less headaches for the auctioneers but potentially less
money for Grex.