[Michael Pikula]

As the temperature starts to drop here in Wisconsin, I'm starting to get in hibernation mode which includes stocking up on shop supplies and filling the hungry propane tank. To raise some additional funds I've decided to conducting an auction on my available work, in the hopes of finding at least one of them a new home. For the starting bid, I've lowered the prices from the previously listed amount, and will be open to all bids until Midnight on November 4th. More information including the starting bids can be found at,

http://michaelssmithy.com/Michaels_Smithy/Winter_Auction.html

I will try to keep the website updated with current bids the best I can, and please feel free to contact me with any questions, or if you would like to place a bid.

Happy bidding!
Michael Pikula

[Jean Thibodeau]

Michael: Oh, you are killing me ! E-mail sent with a bid, but I'm not telling for which one here on this Topic just to not " sabotage " my chances.

Folks, there are a lot of swords here at almost fire sales prices i.e. Production sword prices for full high end custom work !

I can understand that finances can be tight but for those who can afford to buy custom swords this is a good opportunity, depending how high the bigs go, to get a real bargain here in my opinion.

If bids get higher than my comfort zone well then I'll be happy for Michael getting a price closer to what these swords are actually worth even if I don't then get the sword I'm bidding for.

[Addison C. de Lisle]

Gorgeous work; I saw all of these at the Ashoken Center and they are all great in the hand! Would love to bid but unfortunately I am not in a position to spend that much money on hobbies just now. Good luck to all!

P.S. I think we all know Jean is bidding on the giant two-hander

[Michael Pikula]

Thank you for the bid Jean! Once the bids exceed the starting bid price I'll post updates but for now I'll just smile

Addison, it was good to meet you in person and I'm happy that I got to share so many pieces of mine at the event.

[W. Knight]

(First of all, i'm.typin this from a cell phone, so sorry if it does not appear correctly)

anyway, i was just wondering, how will someone know if they should bid above the starting bid if bids at that amount are not posted? it would only be a small inconvenience i know, to bid, then be informed there is already a bid at the starting price, then have to immediately raise your bid--but this could be eliminated altogether by posting which sword have starting bids already...

also, i think it would be helpful to know how many people have placed bids, because the more people bidding, the higher the bids are going to go, for sure...

[Michael Pikula]

Hi W. Knight

Since I have posted the auction on a few different forums, instead of updating the forum posts with every bid, I will be updating the website daily, or as frequently as I can depending on what day and time bids come in. If a bid has been made instead of saying "opening bid starting at $XXXX" on the webpage you will see "1 bid, current high bid $YYYY" or "4 bids, current high bid $ZZZZ"

I know that conducting an auction online without a software program to run biding, it can get complicated. However I had pretty good success with the other auction that I ran so to lay things out here is an example.

Person A wishes to make a bid, and sends me a message saying they would like to open the bidding and is willing to pay the opening bid price, $1500.

Person B sees that a bid has been made and sends me a message saying I would like to place a bid and are willing to pay $1550.

I will drop Person B a message informing them that they are the high bidder, and another message to Person A informing them that the current high bid is $1550, and if they wish to make another bid they are welcome to do so. Then repeat as bids are submitted.

Like I mentioned I had pretty good success doing it this way last time and I didn't have anyone swoop in at the last minute and try to out bid everyone so I am hoping for the same this time around. I found sword collectors are some of the most civil and friendly people that I've had a chance of interacting with

And the makers are lots of fun as well

[W. Knight]

Ah, thanks for the explanation of how it works. I'll PM my specific questions which are about a particular sword, and not the auction.

[Jean Thibodeau]

Just giving this a " Bump " and how often does one get the opportunity to buy a pattern welded custom sword with a starting bid of $2000 and get it now, not 4 years from now after commissioning one?

Just one among the 3 other swords really worth more than the starting bid prices.

[Michael Pikula]

There is just over one week left to get a bid in. The big type XIIIa is really wanting a new home, and it is the perfect time of year for some test cutting

[Michael Pikula]

Just a friendly Monday morning bump and reminding everyone that the auction will end this week on Friday at midnight. I have opening bids for all the swords except for the Ulfberht, the webpage should be getting a update soon to reflect the two bids that came in this weekend.

Thanks again for looking!