Help us speed up our AUCTION (1 Viewer)

[belljr]

ok about our 5th year in an auction format.

We have 12 teams with $100 cap.

How we currently do it is Team 1 throws out a player and starting bid.

Team 2 than bids or passes, Team 3 does the same. We keep doing this process until we get all the way back to the team that bid the highest and everyone passes.

Team 2 then throws out the next player and the same process starts over.

We have to have at least $1 to bid and must fill out 16 spots. So we get to a point where the last 4 or 5 rounds are basically a draft with 6 or 7 teams.

Anyway is it better to just throw out bids instead of the "organized" bidding?

What's the best way to keep track of $$$ spent, jsut use a spreadsheet? We used fake money in the past.

The last auction took ####### forever and we want to speed it up.

TIA

 

[Wooderson]

ok about our 5th year in an auction format.We have 12 teams with $100 cap.How we currently do it is Team 1 throws out a player and starting bid.Team 2 than bids or passes, Team 3 does the same. We keep doing this process until we get all the way back to the team that bid the highest and everyone passes.Team 2 then throws out the next player and the same process starts over.We have to have at least $1 to bid and must fill out 16 spots. So we get to a point where the last 4 or 5 rounds are basically a draft with 6 or 7 teams.Anyway is it better to just thrw out bids instead of the "organized" bidding?What's the best way to keep track of $$$ spent jsut use a spreadsheet? We used fake money in the past.The last auction took ####### forever and we want to speed it up.TIA

Much better and a lot more fun and faster to run it like a real auction. It helps to have an "auctioneer" that isn't in the league to handle the bids but can be done with out.We used to do it that way but now use online auctions and everyone bids with their computer. Much better as there is no confusion on who yelled out the bid first.

 

[Wooderson]

ok about our 5th year in an auction format.We have 12 teams with $100 cap.How we currently do it is Team 1 throws out a player and starting bid.Team 2 than bids or passes, Team 3 does the same. We keep doing this process until we get all the way back to the team that bid the highest and everyone passes.Team 2 then throws out the next player and the same process starts over.We have to have at least $1 to bid and must fill out 16 spots. So we get to a point where the last 4 or 5 rounds are basically a draft with 6 or 7 teams.Anyway is it better to just throw out bids instead of the "organized" bidding?What's the best way to keep track of $$$ spent, jsut use a spreadsheet? We used fake money in the past.The last auction took ####### forever and we want to speed it up.TIA

Before we did it online we would use a big board and after you got a player you would go up and update your total money.

 

[Captain Hook]

1) getting rid of the ridiculous round & round and just having an open auction will save you HOURS

2) agree on getting an auctioneer - best a guy who knows FF but not in the league; even a non bidding co-owner from one of the teams would be okay

3) at least one of the guys is going to use a computer draft program - unless he is a dunce that should be the official word for money counts. Better if the commissioner has an assistant (especially a pretty one) to handle that

 

[Sweet Love]

ok about our 5th year in an auction format.

We have 12 teams with $100 cap.

How we currently do it is Team 1 throws out a player and starting bid.

Team 2 than bids or passes, Team 3 does the same. We keep doing this process until we get all the way back to the team that bid the highest and everyone passes.

Team 2 then throws out the next player and the same process starts over.

We have to have at least $1 to bid and must fill out 16 spots. So we get to a point where the last 4 or 5 rounds are basically a draft with 6 or 7 teams.

Anyway is it better to just thrw out bids instead of the "organized" bidding?

What's the best way to keep track of $$$ spent jsut use a spreadsheet? We used fake money in the past.

The last auction took ####### forever and we want to speed it up.

TIA

Much better and a lot more fun and faster to run it like a real auction. It helps to have an "auctioneer" that isn't in the league to handle the bids but can be done with out.

We used to do it that way but now use online auctions and everyone bids with their computer. Much better as there is no confusion on who yelled out the bid first.

I've never done an auction, BUT I have read countless times it helps to have an auctioneer present. In fact, if you are using a board to track picks/dollars spent, you could probably speed it up to if you had both an auctioneer and someone not in the draft to track players taken and available monies for the teams. My guess is that cutting out the adminstrative work would cut down on 20% of the time at least.

 

[pollardsvision]

Why not just do it through a website, even if it's a live, in-person auction?

For the live auctions I've done, that's how we do it.

Have everybody bring their laptops, do the auction through ESPN (or somehwere else) with everyone in the same room.

This cuts out everything that slows your auction down.

 

[belljr]

Why not just do it through a website, even if it's a live, in-person auction?For the live auctions I've done, that's how we do it. Have everybody bring their laptops, do the auction through ESPN (or somehwere else) with everyone in the same room.This cuts out everything that slows your auction down.

It's in person.I don't mind taking some time but that requires everyone having a laptop AND I rather use my cheatsheet but it is something to consider.

 

[ukshane]

We use a spreadsheet and a projector to calculate everyones remaining budgets and max bids. As others have said, you need to have an auctioneer that keeps the bidding moving. It helps if the auctioneer isn't a drafter because they won't be motivated to give a quick "Once, Twice, Sold" on players that they are currently the high bidder on.

To reduce wait time due to knuckleheads who take forever to nominate someone, I create an auction list ahead of time. The auction list or schedule is random but weighted so that the better players tend to be auctioned earlier. Plus you can look ahead and go take a piss without worrying that you'll miss out on someone you've been targeting.

This weekend, we made it thru 216 picks in around 3 1/2 hours.

 

[J Giles Band]

1) getting rid of the ridiculous round & round and just having an open auction will save you HOURS

2) agree on getting an auctioneer - best a guy who knows FF but not in the league; even a non bidding co-owner from one of the teams would be okay

3) at least one of the guys is going to use a computer draft program - unless he is a dunce that should be the official word for money counts. Better if the commissioner has an assistant (especially a pretty one) to handle that

This. Especially getting rid of the ordered bidding. Nomination should be in order, but bidding should be open.

Unless a league member can't be there, there is no need to use online auction software if you are holding your auction in person. The fun of the auction is the personal interaction.

 

[BroadwayG]

If I ever do an auction again, it will be a blind auction. Submit your bid and winner gets it. Ties are broken through hand to hand combat with ninja weapons.

 

[pollardsvision]

If I ever do an auction again, it will be a blind auction. Submit your bid and winner gets it. Ties are broken through hand to hand combat with ninja weapons.

That sounds horrible. The blind bid stuff. Not necessarily the ninja combat.Blind bidding would remove much of the fun of an auction.

 

[pollardsvision]

1) getting rid of the ridiculous round & round and just having an open auction will save you HOURS

2) agree on getting an auctioneer - best a guy who knows FF but not in the league; even a non bidding co-owner from one of the teams would be okay

3) at least one of the guys is going to use a computer draft program - unless he is a dunce that should be the official word for money counts. Better if the commissioner has an assistant (especially a pretty one) to handle that

This. Especially getting rid of the ordered bidding. Nomination should be in order, but bidding should be open.

Unless a league member can't be there, there is no need to use online auction software if you are holding your auction in person. The fun of the auction is the personal interaction.

You can have all of the same personal interaction using online software. You just don't have to deal with clerical crap.

 

[seamo]

Our auction league has been around since the mid 90's. Mostly this was conducted by the players involved, and inevitably there was always some error or drama.

Couple of years ago, we bought The Fatbox:

http://www.btfsports.com/btfsports/index.htn

Best FF invention ever. Even has remote access capability for owners that can't be at your auction in person (tried this for the first time this year in 1 league and it worked well).

The owner is a great guy named Joe, and has personally helped me out with draft day set up and configuration, etc.

He's also taken feedback on the system to improve the software, etc. For example, last year I requested he work with MFL to integrate the final rosters from his software to directly upload to MFL rosters, which he completed this summer (haven't had our MFL auction yet to try this new feature out.)

 

[BroadwayG]

If I ever do an auction again, it will be a blind auction. Submit your bid and winner gets it. Ties are broken through hand to hand combat with ninja weapons.

That sounds horrible. The blind bid stuff. Not necessarily the ninja combat.Blind bidding would remove much of the fun of an auction.

Auctions aren't fun at all.Signed,everyone that goes stud heavy early, then has to wait 2.5 hours doing absolutely nothing until the 'draft' portion starts.

 

[Captain Hook]

1) getting rid of the ridiculous round & round and just having an open auction will save you HOURS

2) agree on getting an auctioneer - best a guy who knows FF but not in the league; even a non bidding co-owner from one of the teams would be okay

3) at least one of the guys is going to use a computer draft program - unless he is a dunce that should be the official word for money counts. Better if the commissioner has an assistant (especially a pretty one) to handle that

This. Especially getting rid of the ordered bidding. Nomination should be in order, but bidding should be open.

Unless a league member can't be there, there is no need to use online auction software if you are holding your auction in person. The fun of the auction is the personal interaction.

You can have all of the same personal interaction using online software. You just don't have to deal with clerical crap.

True but most importantly ALL current auction software has some gliches. ALL of themAnd it is more fun in person, seeing the people, having some food and beverages and trading a few FF jabs

 

[pollardsvision]

1) getting rid of the ridiculous round & round and just having an open auction will save you HOURS

2) agree on getting an auctioneer - best a guy who knows FF but not in the league; even a non bidding co-owner from one of the teams would be okay

3) at least one of the guys is going to use a computer draft program - unless he is a dunce that should be the official word for money counts. Better if the commissioner has an assistant (especially a pretty one) to handle that

This. Especially getting rid of the ordered bidding. Nomination should be in order, but bidding should be open.

Unless a league member can't be there, there is no need to use online auction software if you are holding your auction in person. The fun of the auction is the personal interaction.

You can have all of the same personal interaction using online software. You just don't have to deal with clerical crap.

True but most importantly ALL current auction software has some gliches. ALL of themAnd it is more fun in person, seeing the people, having some food and beverages and trading a few FF jabs

I agree that auction software can often have annoying technical issues. It usually works out fine, but it can be very annoying.I'm talking about using auction software and doing it "in person". Best of both worlds, imo. Unless you have/hire 2 reliable people to have at your disposal (auctioneer and clerical person) that aren't in the league, I prefer everyone in the same room, but using software. It's worth it despite the technical hiccups, I think.

 

[pollardsvision]

Our auction league has been around since the mid 90's. Mostly this was conducted by the players involved, and inevitably there was always some error or drama.Couple of years ago, we bought The Fatbox:http://www.btfsports.com/btfsports/index.htnBest FF invention ever. Even has remote access capability for owners that can't be at your auction in person (tried this for the first time this year in 1 league and it worked well).The owner is a great guy named Joe, and has personally helped me out with draft day set up and configuration, etc.He's also taken feedback on the system to improve the software, etc. For example, last year I requested he work with MFL to integrate the final rosters from his software to directly upload to MFL rosters, which he completed this summer (haven't had our MFL auction yet to try this new feature out.)

That looks pretty awesome.

 

[kardplayer]

We auction the first 8 players to each team ($100 budget), then draft from there. Goes fairly quickly - 12 teams, 19 players and we get done in less than 3 hours.

We do the "Going once, twice, sold" auction, and have two auctioneers - me and one other owner so that whoever is bidding isn't running the auction too. Once someone gets their 8th player, they become the auctioneer (at least, after they've gone and taken a leak that is) - moves pretty quick.

 

[Captain Hook]

We auction the first 8 players to each team ($100 budget), then draft from there. Goes fairly quickly - 12 teams, 19 players and we get done in less than 3 hours.

We do the "Going once, twice, sold" auction, and have two auctioneers - me and one other owner so that whoever is bidding isn't running the auction too. Once someone gets their 8th player, they become the auctioneer (at least, after they've gone and taken a leak that is) - moves pretty quick.

What do you do when someone nominates a player for say $40 and there are two or more $93 belted out?

 

[Pigskin Fanatic]

out of curiosity, what do you consider a long time?

my auction is open bidding with each owner throwing out a player in turn and starting the bid at wherever they want to bid, with a minimum of $1. he then is the auctioneer for that pick. everyone tracks their own $$ with or without a laptop, most without, me and my co-commish always have a laptop and track in parallel using Excel. this year i actually tracked it using Draft DominatorTM, it was great. DD has auction values and salary input for selections if anyone didn't realize, it's an awesome auction tool for the commissioner. every so often, whether after a few "rounds" or after a half hour or so we stop for breaks at which time we announce where everyone is with their money: total left and max bids. this also helps me keep in sync with the co-commish in case i missed something. has been working very well for a few years, albeit it had its learning curve for all of us.

you just have to teach the owners to keep two running numbers every time they make a pick, total remaining and max bid. they could do that with a pencil and paper. tell them they have to do math only 14 times (or how many players there are in a roster in your league.)

 

[Pigskin Fanatic]

What do you do when someone nominates a player for say $40 and there are two or more $93 belted out?

in my experience either a bidder calls out $94 immediately after the "tie" or the room has an opinion on who was first. in several years doing auctions i never once had an issue where there was any fuss over this type of a situation. it wouldn't be a bad idea to set a rule over things like this before the start, too, like arm wrestling, down a beer, race around the room, etc. etc.

 

[Topes]

Anyway is it better to just throw out bids instead of the "organized" bidding?

I much prefer the round around order than just calling out bids. There are layers of strategy involved (in or out decisions and bluffing) that are lost of diminished when going to call-out auction.

What's the best way to keep track of $$$ spent, jsut use a spreadsheet? We used fake money in the past.The last auction took ####### forever and we want to speed it up.

Spreadsheet, by far. Fake money? Sounds like a huge time-waster there. Just have one guy to run a spreadsheet , who inputs all the names and salaries, put it up on a projecter, and it sails right along. max bids are apparent to all, in real time.

TIA

You're welcome.

 

[Coach3K]

We moved to the open auction format 3 years ago and we've had a few growing pains (12-man, $200 budget, 3 keepers -max 3 years). One of the biggest issues is that we have never had all 12 guys present.

I have acted as commissioner for the last several years, including during the transition to the auction. The worst part is trying to track both the league picks and own draft board.

For instance, this year I was using DD to keep track of my board and keep myself disciplined in my bets, but also had to update the manual spreadsheet I created that shows everyone's roster/budget remaining, AND acted as the auctioneer. On top of that, I had to make sure people on the phone/Skype could hear and weren't being disconnected. That makes for a long night and not much food eaten by the auctioneer. "Make everyone show up" isn't feasible with out-of-staters. Not everyone at the draft has a laptop to bring for online use, either, but I'll probably recommend that for next year, as several of us undoubtedly have a second laptop.

Every situation is different. But I recommend using the open auction format...just make sure bids are quick. Bidding will slow, and you should know when to start the "going once, going twice, sold" countdown.

IF you can find a fantasy-knowledgeable person to be an auctioneer, that's a great idea. Unfortunately, our league is already made up of the people we know who are into fantasy football. Being able to announce a player's name, position, and team without having to look it up is a time-saver. Getting a non-fan to be the auctioneer, regardless of their hotness or now colorful they are, will cost you time.

For information, our auction recently started at 7 PM and the last few teams filled their rosters at about 10:30 PM. Keep in mind that 12x3 players are usually off the board automatically due to the keeper format, so that saves time naturaly. We also had a couple of technical difficulties for the Skyper's that required "pausing" for 5-10 minutes.

 

[stugnut]

ok about our 5th year in an auction format.We have 12 teams with $100 cap.How we currently do it is Team 1 throws out a player and starting bid.Team 2 than bids or passes, Team 3 does the same. We keep doing this process until we get all the way back to the team that bid the highest and everyone passes.Team 2 then throws out the next player and the same process starts over.We have to have at least $1 to bid and must fill out 16 spots. So we get to a point where the last 4 or 5 rounds are basically a draft with 6 or 7 teams.Anyway is it better to just throw out bids instead of the "organized" bidding?What's the best way to keep track of $$$ spent, jsut use a spreadsheet? We used fake money in the past.The last auction took ####### forever and we want to speed it up.TIA

Wow, that sounds painful. I don't know if you have ever been to a real auction, but the way you are doing it isn't much like how an auction should be run. No wonder it takes forever. We just had our 12 team, $200, 21 man roster, and it took 3.5 hours. Get someone to be an auctioneer. A friend of one of the guys playing, a waitress at the bar who knows football, someone. When team 1 nominates a player for $X dollars, the auctioneer takes over. We don't mess around. You need to get right on the "60 dollars is going once, going twice, sold". Keep the same cadence for the "going once, etc" for every player. Be clear about when someone is too late when throwing out a higher bid; as soon as the auctioneer starts to say "sold", it's over. So if the "S" sound is out of his mouth, all bids are closed. Someone tries to throw out a higher bid in the middle of the word, "sold", sorry, too late. Give the auctioneer the power to make the final decision and all it takes is one owner to dilly dally about making a bid and from then on out no one is going to be slow about getting their bid in. I use draft dominator to keep track of the auction. Once you get the hang of it it's pretty easy to enter every pick as it happens. Just a suggestion, but it helps to stop the the draft every few "rounds" and double check to make sure you have the same money left per team that they think they have. Only takes about 60 seconds but it will save a lot of headaches that will happen if you wait until the end and find out that you have made the mistake of awarding the wrong player to the wrong team, or entered the incorrect amount.

 

[roadkill1292]

Our auction league has been around since the mid 90's. Mostly this was conducted by the players involved, and inevitably there was always some error or drama.Couple of years ago, we bought The Fatbox:http://www.btfsports.com/btfsports/index.htnBest FF invention ever. Even has remote access capability for owners that can't be at your auction in person (tried this for the first time this year in 1 league and it worked well).The owner is a great guy named Joe, and has personally helped me out with draft day set up and configuration, etc.He's also taken feedback on the system to improve the software, etc. For example, last year I requested he work with MFL to integrate the final rosters from his software to directly upload to MFL rosters, which he completed this summer (haven't had our MFL auction yet to try this new feature out.)

That looks pretty awesome.

It is. Expensive as hell and it puts a strain on a league to find the right facility if you have any remote participants. But we have four different leagues (including the local FBG Leeg) sharing the cost of our system and it is simply the best tool ever invented for an inperson auction. Keeps the back end organized and moving along smartly.

 

[Mr.Pack]

We moved to the open auction format 3 years ago and we've had a few growing pains (12-man, $200 budget, 3 keepers -max 3 years). One of the biggest issues is that we have never had all 12 guys present.

I have acted as commissioner for the last several years, including during the transition to the auction. The worst part is trying to track both the league picks and own draft board.

For instance, this year I was using DD to keep track of my board and keep myself disciplined in my bets, but also had to update the manual spreadsheet I created that shows everyone's roster/budget remaining, AND acted as the auctioneer. On top of that, I had to make sure people on the phone/Skype could hear and weren't being disconnected. That makes for a long night and not much food eaten by the auctioneer. "Make everyone show up" isn't feasible with out-of-staters. Not everyone at the draft has a laptop to bring for online use, either, but I'll probably recommend that for next year, as several of us undoubtedly have a second laptop.

Every situation is different. But I recommend using the open auction format...just make sure bids are quick. Bidding will slow, and you should know when to start the "going once, going twice, sold" countdown.

IF you can find a fantasy-knowledgeable person to be an auctioneer, that's a great idea. Unfortunately, our league is already made up of the people we know who are into fantasy football. Being able to announce a player's name, position, and team without having to look it up is a time-saver. Getting a non-fan to be the auctioneer, regardless of their hotness or now colorful they are, will cost you time.

For information, our auction recently started at 7 PM and the last few teams filled their rosters at about 10:30 PM. Keep in mind that 12x3 players are usually off the board automatically due to the keeper format, so that saves time naturaly. We also had a couple of technical difficulties for the Skyper's that required "pausing" for 5-10 minutes.

I don't get this. DD does all of that at the same time.

 

[Coach3K]

We moved to the open auction format 3 years ago and we've had a few growing pains (12-man, $200 budget, 3 keepers -max 3 years). One of the biggest issues is that we have never had all 12 guys present.

I have acted as commissioner for the last several years, including during the transition to the auction. The worst part is trying to track both the league picks and own draft board.

For instance, this year I was using DD to keep track of my board and keep myself disciplined in my bets, but also had to update the manual spreadsheet I created that shows everyone's roster/budget remaining, AND acted as the auctioneer. On top of that, I had to make sure people on the phone/Skype could hear and weren't being disconnected. That makes for a long night and not much food eaten by the auctioneer. "Make everyone show up" isn't feasible with out-of-staters. Not everyone at the draft has a laptop to bring for online use, either, but I'll probably recommend that for next year, as several of us undoubtedly have a second laptop.

Every situation is different. But I recommend using the open auction format...just make sure bids are quick. Bidding will slow, and you should know when to start the "going once, going twice, sold" countdown.

IF you can find a fantasy-knowledgeable person to be an auctioneer, that's a great idea. Unfortunately, our league is already made up of the people we know who are into fantasy football. Being able to announce a player's name, position, and team without having to look it up is a time-saver. Getting a non-fan to be the auctioneer, regardless of their hotness or now colorful they are, will cost you time.

For information, our auction recently started at 7 PM and the last few teams filled their rosters at about 10:30 PM. Keep in mind that 12x3 players are usually off the board automatically due to the keeper format, so that saves time naturaly. We also had a couple of technical difficulties for the Skyper's that required "pausing" for 5-10 minutes.

I don't get this. DD does all of that at the same time.

I admit I haven't used DD to its full potential. Looking now at some of the league-friendly options instead of just individual tools, I could probably print out the draft summary for everyone at the end if I used it exclusively, since my ddf file would be useless to them. The current spreadsheet is a handy one-sheet document that everyone uses for review and as a tool for subsequent years for their draft planning, where they can easily copy/paste data and use it in their own planning. It looks like a csv file could be exported for a similar purpose, though.I guess I could always fill the spreadsheet out afterwards from the data saved in DD to save some time, if everyone prefers that version - it just wouldn't come right at the end of the draft like most of them are used to now. I could pose it to them as a time savings vs. immediate feedback choice, though I could just make them all track it themselves if they want that specific format.

 

[CalBear]

We auction the first 8 players to each team ($100 budget), then draft from there. Goes fairly quickly - 12 teams, 19 players and we get done in less than 3 hours.

We do the "Going once, twice, sold" auction, and have two auctioneers - me and one other owner so that whoever is bidding isn't running the auction too. Once someone gets their 8th player, they become the auctioneer (at least, after they've gone and taken a leak that is) - moves pretty quick.

What do you do when someone nominates a player for say $40 and there are two or more $93 belted out?

If no one wants to go higher, roshambo for it. That only happens on $1 players (two people want the same kicker but neither wants to spend $2).

 

[CalBear]

I admit I haven't used DD to its full potential. Looking now at some of the league-friendly options instead of just individual tools, I could probably print out the draft summary for everyone at the end if I used it exclusively, since my ddf file would be useless to them. The current spreadsheet is a handy one-sheet document that everyone uses for review and as a tool for subsequent years for their draft planning, where they can easily copy/paste data and use it in their own planning. It looks like a csv file could be exported for a similar purpose, though.I guess I could always fill the spreadsheet out afterwards from the data saved in DD to save some time, if everyone prefers that version - it just wouldn't come right at the end of the draft like most of them are used to now. I could pose it to them as a time savings vs. immediate feedback choice, though I could just make them all track it themselves if they want that specific format.

DD has an "Export->Teams" function which generates a spreadsheet (.CSV) with rosters and prices.

 

[glock]

ok about our 5th year in an auction format.We have 12 teams with $100 cap.How we currently do it is Team 1 throws out a player and starting bid.Team 2 than bids or passes, Team 3 does the same. We keep doing this process until we get all the way back to the team that bid the highest and everyone passes.Team 2 then throws out the next player and the same process starts over.We have to have at least $1 to bid and must fill out 16 spots. So we get to a point where the last 4 or 5 rounds are basically a draft with 6 or 7 teams.Anyway is it better to just throw out bids instead of the "organized" bidding?What's the best way to keep track of $$$ spent, jsut use a spreadsheet? We used fake money in the past.The last auction took ####### forever and we want to speed it up.TIA

Why speed it up? You all probably get together only once all year. Eat, drink, bid and be merry.

 

[Lehigh98]

We take turns in order to nominate players.

Anyone can bid any amount at any time ($1 increments).

The person that nominated the player is in charge of saying "Going once, going twice, SOLD".

It's not that long or hard. :thatswhatshesaid:

 

[stugnut]

I admit I haven't used DD to its full potential. Looking now at some of the league-friendly options instead of just individual tools, I could probably print out the draft summary for everyone at the end if I used it exclusively, since my ddf file would be useless to them. The current spreadsheet is a handy one-sheet document that everyone uses for review and as a tool for subsequent years for their draft planning, where they can easily copy/paste data and use it in their own planning. It looks like a csv file could be exported for a similar purpose, though.I guess I could always fill the spreadsheet out afterwards from the data saved in DD to save some time, if everyone prefers that version - it just wouldn't come right at the end of the draft like most of them are used to now. I could pose it to them as a time savings vs. immediate feedback choice, though I could just make them all track it themselves if they want that specific format.

DD has an "Export->Teams" function which generates a spreadsheet (.CSV) with rosters and prices.

That's what I use to then put rosters into MFL. Just copy the players for a team and in MFL, paste into the Load Rosters screen for that team. Takes minutes to load all rosters.

 

[Daywalker]

Anyway is it better to just throw out bids instead of the "organized" bidding?

I much prefer the round around order than just calling out bids. There are layers of strategy involved (in or out decisions and bluffing) that are lost of diminished when going to call-out auction.

Round around bidding is a waste of time. Plus it's ridiculous that other owners have more time to think if they want to get into the bidding.Actually had a roto-baseball auction that had a process of a round around bidding order. Think the auction started at 8am and we were done at 6pm. Never seen a bigger cluster-f.We'd have players that you know are going to go for $20+ yet had to wait forever as an idiot strained to bid $11. Rinse and repeat. Left that league after one season.

 

[ChromeWeasel]

1) getting rid of the ridiculous round & round and just having an open auction will save you HOURS

2) agree on getting an auctioneer - best a guy who knows FF but not in the league; even a non bidding co-owner from one of the teams would be okay

3) at least one of the guys is going to use a computer draft program - unless he is a dunce that should be the official word for money counts. Better if the commissioner has an assistant (especially a pretty one) to handle that

This. Especially getting rid of the ordered bidding. Nomination should be in order, but bidding should be open.

Unless a league member can't be there, there is no need to use online auction software if you are holding your auction in person. The fun of the auction is the personal interaction.

Hope the OP got some good advice here. But this thread is funny when you think of all the posts that claiming how awesome auctions are and that once you do one you'll never go back. Those posts never mention that you should get an auctioneer or two and force one or more owners onto a computer.

 

[roadkill1292]

1) getting rid of the ridiculous round & round and just having an open auction will save you HOURS

2) agree on getting an auctioneer - best a guy who knows FF but not in the league; even a non bidding co-owner from one of the teams would be okay

3) at least one of the guys is going to use a computer draft program - unless he is a dunce that should be the official word for money counts. Better if the commissioner has an assistant (especially a pretty one) to handle that

This. Especially getting rid of the ordered bidding. Nomination should be in order, but bidding should be open.

Unless a league member can't be there, there is no need to use online auction software if you are holding your auction in person. The fun of the auction is the personal interaction.

Hope the OP got some good advice here. But this thread is funny when you think of all the posts that claiming how awesome auctions are and that once you do one you'll never go back. Those posts never mention that you should get an auctioneer or two and force one or more owners onto a computer.

You've finally convinced me. I'm ditching auctions and will only draft from now on.

 

[belljr]

I love the auction, ours took about 4 to 4.5 just want it to flow better

 

[Johnny Rock]

We auction the first 8 players to each team ($100 budget), then draft from there. Goes fairly quickly - 12 teams, 19 players and we get done in less than 3 hours.We do the "Going once, twice, sold" auction, and have two auctioneers - me and one other owner so that whoever is bidding isn't running the auction too. Once someone gets their 8th player, they become the auctioneer (at least, after they've gone and taken a leak that is) - moves pretty quick.

I call this a Hybrid Draft (Auction/Serpentine) and I've posted on it a few times in past years. All the fun of auctions but get rid of all the $1 bidding to fill out the rosters.We auction 30 players by name, then auction 6 Owner's Choice Picks, then do blind bidding for 24 picks with remaining money so that all teams have 5 players total. Then 3RR (serpentine) the rest of the way. Love it.

 

[J Giles Band]

Hope the OP got some good advice here. But this thread is funny when you think of all the posts that claiming how awesome auctions are and that once you do one you'll never go back. Those posts never mention that you should get an auctioneer or two and force one or more owners onto a computer.

It's apparent you didn't read any of the posts in this thread since there was not a single one that claimed this. But don't let the facts get in the way of your attempt at humor.

Auctions aren't for everyone. Some guys enjoy them, some don't. Pretty simple really. If you don't like auctions, don't do them.

 

[kardplayer]

What do you do when someone nominates a player for say $40 and there are two or more $93 belted out?

in my experience either a bidder calls out $94 immediately after the "tie" or the room has an opinion on who was first. in several years doing auctions i never once had an issue where there was any fuss over this type of a situation. it wouldn't be a bad idea to set a rule over things like this before the start, too, like arm wrestling, down a beer, race around the room, etc. etc.

100% agree. Usually the "ties" happen early in the process. Our highest player went for $61 a few years ago, and that was with two people going back and forth from $53 or so. More likely to get two people to shout "$2" at once for the #33 WR, but even in those cases we haven't had issues.

 

[kardplayer]

Keep the same cadence for the "going once, etc" for every player.

I agree with this 50%. My cadence is pretty similar from player to player, but I will often try to get the price up during the "Going Once... twice... sold" part - that is part of the job of the auctioneer. So I'll say things like, "The Number One WR going once. The Number One WR, with another year of experience with his QB Going Twice. (long pause) Sold." The only time I ever go faster than normal is if someone makes a ridiculous offer where there is no way he's getting outbid. A few years ago in a redraft, someone said "Jamarcus Russell $20". In 10 years of doing this in two leagues, that is still probably the second or third highest amount ever paid for a QB. No need to prolong that.

 

[Mr.Pack]

Anyway is it better to just throw out bids instead of the "organized" bidding?

I much prefer the round around order than just calling out bids. There are layers of strategy involved (in or out decisions and bluffing) that are lost of diminished when going to call-out auction.

Round around bidding is a waste of time. Plus it's ridiculous that other owners have more time to think if they want to get into the bidding.Actually had a roto-baseball auction that had a process of a round around bidding order. Think the auction started at 8am and we were done at 6pm. Never seen a bigger cluster-f.We'd have players that you know are going to go for $20+ yet had to wait forever as an idiot strained to bid $11. Rinse and repeat. Left that league after one season.

Wait, you only allow bids in increments of $1? We have guys that try to do that crap, but someone will finally bid $30 or more etc. to get the thing moving.

 

[Captain Hook]

We auction the first 8 players to each team ($100 budget), then draft from there. Goes fairly quickly - 12 teams, 19 players and we get done in less than 3 hours.

We do the "Going once, twice, sold" auction, and have two auctioneers - me and one other owner so that whoever is bidding isn't running the auction too. Once someone gets their 8th player, they become the auctioneer (at least, after they've gone and taken a leak that is) - moves pretty quick.

What do you do when someone nominates a player for say $40 and there are two or more $93 belted out?

If no one wants to go higher, roshambo for it. That only happens on $1 players (two people want the same kicker but neither wants to spend $2).

The $1 players are NOT a problem - either the guy who nominates the player for $1 get him or someone bids twoI was talking about the early players and it IS a problem in almost every "drauction" I have been in or watched - either have an auction or have a draft but don't make both worse with the phony hybrid

 

[Daywalker]

Anyway is it better to just throw out bids instead of the "organized" bidding?

I much prefer the round around order than just calling out bids. There are layers of strategy involved (in or out decisions and bluffing) that are lost of diminished when going to call-out auction.

Round around bidding is a waste of time. Plus it's ridiculous that other owners have more time to think if they want to get into the bidding.Actually had a roto-baseball auction that had a process of a round around bidding order. Think the auction started at 8am and we were done at 6pm. Never seen a bigger cluster-f.We'd have players that you know are going to go for $20+ yet had to wait forever as an idiot strained to bid $11. Rinse and repeat. Left that league after one season.

Wait, you only allow bids in increments of $1? We have guys that try to do that crap, but someone will finally bid $30 or more etc. to get the thing moving.

The bidding went around in a circle.Guy nominates M. Wallace for $1. The owner to his right now has the opportunity to bid $2+ or drop out of the bidding. Bidding tends to only go up by 1 by each owner. This is often with much deliberation at points when you know the guy is going to go for double that.My roto draft literally was like a 10+ hour event. Afterwards I felt like Ralphie from A Christmas Story before his dad asked him what was in the corner. Nonplussed.

 

[ChromeWeasel]

Hope the OP got some good advice here. But this thread is funny when you think of all the posts that claiming how awesome auctions are and that once you do one you'll never go back. Those posts never mention that you should get an auctioneer or two and force one or more owners onto a computer.

It's apparent you didn't read any of the posts in this thread since there was not a single one that claimed this. But don't let the facts get in the way of your attempt at humor.

Auctions aren't for everyone. Some guys enjoy them, some don't. Pretty simple really. If you don't like auctions, don't do them.

I read the whole thread. As I already said, the points here about about getting an auctioneer or two, or other solutions to 'simplify' the auction are funny. I've done auctions before and I know that they take more work. People here who prefer auctions should admit that they take more prep and work. It's funny to see how much more prep and work people will go through to make the auction format work well. Most of the time, when people brag about how awesome auctions are they leave out all the extra prep work. It's always funny to see auction fans get bent out of shape though when you are simply wishing the OP well and taking note of the requirements of the auction.

 

[CalBear]

I read the whole thread. As I already said, the points here about about getting an auctioneer or two, or other solutions to 'simplify' the auction are funny. I've done auctions before and I know that they take more work. People here who prefer auctions should admit that they take more prep and work.

You'll have to point out where someone is denying that auctions take more prep and work.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

We auction the first 8 players to each team ($100 budget), then draft from there. Goes fairly quickly - 12 teams, 19 players and we get done in less than 3 hours.

We do the "Going once, twice, sold" auction, and have two auctioneers - me and one other owner so that whoever is bidding isn't running the auction too. Once someone gets their 8th player, they become the auctioneer (at least, after they've gone and taken a leak that is) - moves pretty quick.

I call this a Hybrid Draft (Auction/Serpentine) and I've posted on it a few times in past years. All the fun of auctions but get rid of all the $1 bidding to fill out the rosters.We auction 30 players by name, then auction 6 Owner's Choice Picks, then do blind bidding for 24 picks with remaining money so that all teams have 5 players total. Then 3RR (serpentine) the rest of the way. Love it.

The Hawks save a few dollars till the end so they can snipe guys they want for $2 or $3.

 

[J Giles Band]

Hope the OP got some good advice here. But this thread is funny when you think of all the posts that claiming how awesome auctions are and that once you do one you'll never go back. Those posts never mention that you should get an auctioneer or two and force one or more owners onto a computer.

It's apparent you didn't read any of the posts in this thread since there was not a single one that claimed this. But don't let the facts get in the way of your attempt at humor.

Auctions aren't for everyone. Some guys enjoy them, some don't. Pretty simple really. If you don't like auctions, don't do them.

I read the whole thread. As I already said, the points here about about getting an auctioneer or two, or other solutions to 'simplify' the auction are funny. I've done auctions before and I know that they take more work. People here who prefer auctions should admit that they take more prep and work. It's funny to see how much more prep and work people will go through to make the auction format work well. Most of the time, when people brag about how awesome auctions are they leave out all the extra prep work. It's always funny to see auction fans get bent out of shape though when you are simply wishing the OP well and taking note of the requirements of the auction.

Nice try. Thanks for proving my point. As the bolded above shows, in the space of two posts you have already contradicted yourself. What a surprise.

You hijack the thread to bash those who advocate auctions. This was assuming that this was a cheerleading thread for them when in reality not one poster in the thread had advocated auctions over drafts nor hyped them in any way. Instead everyone was giving the OP methods to make his auction more efficient.

I'm no auction advocate and I could care less whether you like auctions or not. But next time you decide to hijack a thread to make sure everyone knows your opinion on a subject at least have your sh#t straight.

 

[ChromeWeasel]

I read the whole thread. As I already said, the points here about about getting an auctioneer or two, or other solutions to 'simplify' the auction are funny. I've done auctions before and I know that they take more work. People here who prefer auctions should admit that they take more prep and work.

You'll have to point out where someone is denying that auctions take more prep and work.

Some decent examples:
[*]http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=605560&st=0&p=13436090entry13436090

[*]http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=470028&st=0&p=10382249entry10382249

[*]http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=605663&st=0&p=13477446entry13477446

There are plenty more examples on the forum of guys who love auctions trumpeting how great they are and never mentioning the extra time and effort involved. Most of the people in this thread have already admitted that it takes extra effort to handle an auction. That's good to see. It just amuzes me when I think of posts like the ones above.

 

[ChromeWeasel]

Hope the OP got some good advice here. But this thread is funny when you think of all the posts that claiming how awesome auctions are and that once you do one you'll never go back. Those posts never mention that you should get an auctioneer or two and force one or more owners onto a computer.

It's apparent you didn't read any of the posts in this thread since there was not a single one that claimed this. But don't let the facts get in the way of your attempt at humor.

Auctions aren't for everyone. Some guys enjoy them, some don't. Pretty simple really. If you don't like auctions, don't do them.

I read the whole thread. As I already said, the points here about about getting an auctioneer or two, or other solutions to 'simplify' the auction are funny. I've done auctions before and I know that they take more work. People here who prefer auctions should admit that they take more prep and work. It's funny to see how much more prep and work people will go through to make the auction format work well. Most of the time, when people brag about how awesome auctions are they leave out all the extra prep work. It's always funny to see auction fans get bent out of shape though when you are simply wishing the OP well and taking note of the requirements of the auction.

Nice try. Thanks for proving my point. As the bolded above shows, in the space of two posts you have already contradicted yourself. What a surprise.

You hijack the thread to bash those who advocate auctions. This was assuming that this was a cheerleading thread for them when in reality not one poster in the thread had advocated auctions over drafts nor hyped them in any way. Instead everyone was giving the OP methods to make his auction more efficient.

I'm no auction advocate and I could care less whether you like auctions or not. But next time you decide to hijack a thread to make sure everyone knows your opinion on a subject at least have your sh#t straight.

The only people turning this into a thread hijack and the ones trying to take me out of context. My first post was a comment on the fact that auctions take more work, and how that's rarely mentioned by people who trumpet auctions. See my last post for some examples. The whole reason this thread is amusing is because the people here are giving good examples of what kind of work it can take to run a good auction. There is no contradiction in my posts if you actually read them.

 

[roadkill1292]

The extra work is worth it because, well, then you don't have to settle for a draft.