I invite any Gavel Chat reader out there to change my opinion on this topic. If you change my opinion, I will award you $100 cash.

I hate reserves on eBay! How many times have you searched the world's favorite online auction site and spotted an awesome item that you are willing to bid on only to find that it has a hidden reserve on it? I wouldn't mind this, but it is human nature to think that their item is worth more than it actually is, and in escence that logic forces the person to put a crazy reserve on the item.

It actually just happened to me and that's why I am going on this rant, not that it's gonna do me any good.

Why the heck do people put reserves on their items anyway? Any time an item has a reserve on it, potential bidders are immediately turned off. I have actually stopped bidding on items that have reserves. If you want to sell the item in an auction-style format then take the stinking reserve off of it.

EBay charges a ton more to list an item that carries a reserve. Good thing too, because I would guess that the majority of items that do have a reserve never end up selling, which obviously means that eBay doesn't receive its commission.

So, that's it for my Friday rant. And I am serious. If anyone can change my opinion, I will happily hand you a Benjamin. Don't get too excited though, it probably ain't gonna happen.

The host of Gavel Chat's weekly newsbreak's host, Scott Kelnhofer, extended his vacation on accident today, so we are delaying this nifty new feature until tomorrow morning. That said, make sure you tune in tomorrow, as there's lot of stuff going on in the industry that he will be telling blog viewers about.

Instead, today I put the final part of my Lou Lampson interview on the blog. Enjoy.

l

About two years ago I started hearing about this book and I still have never seen one in person.

Premier Auctions is offering a Super Bowl XL Opus (MVP Edition, No. 140 of 400) limited-edition autographed book available from the publisher, KrakenOpus, in its latest auction that ends May 29.

The retail price was $40,000. The lot carries a minimum bid of $25,000.

The Opus also includes an in-depth analysis and story of every Super Bowl played, illustrated with more than 1,200 astonishing images. The 20-by-20-inch book weighs more than 80 pounds.
The MVP Opus also contains a page that is personally signed by the 34 of the 35 Super Bowl MVPs.

All I wanna know is, how the heck is a book 80 pounds?!!

Are the pages made out of lead? No question that's a hefty minimum bid for a killer modern-day football piece, but I would compare it to the NBA 50 Greatest players lithograph and those go for up near $70k.

I just got off the phone with Walter Cerini from Premier auctions and he said that this was the last example of the Opus book available and they will now be all sold out.

According to a report from the website thesmokinggun.com and a chat that Gavel Chat had with auction officials, former NFL quarterback Joe Montana is suing Heritage Auction Galleries for the sale of assorted items including love letters to his former wife Kim Moses. Montana is also suing Moses, who consigned the pieces to Heritage's May 2008 Signature sale. Montana, 51, claims that the sale of the assorted items violated his copyright and privacy rights.

Chris Ivy, Heritage sports division auction director said he hasn't seen a copy of the complaint yet.

"We're kind of stuck in the middle of this," said Ivy. "It's just a question of ownership and title. We're just kind of stepping back and letting their attorneys hash it out.

The total of the nine lots that Heritage sold for Moses tallied $20,972.

-Chris Nerat

Filling out your Super Bowl pool sheet, checking eBay, bracket time during March Madness, going through personal email, visiting blogs and message boards that have nothing to do with your line of work.

How much time do you spend using online features that seem to be more interesting than what you're "supposed to be doing" while on the job?

Now, don't get me wrong... I'll take my Gavel Chat readers any way I  can get them, and I will say that I can't beleive how popular this blog has actually gotten, but I thought this was an interesting topic that I'm sure your bosses might not be too thrilled about.

Have you ever listed or bid on an eBay auction at work? How bout visit the various sports memorabilia message boards at work? Heck, you might be Gavel Chatting at work right now! If you are a die-hard, like most of us are, it's hard not to venture away from the daily grind once in a while, but be careful guys ... Gavel Chat is almost more important than work, but not quite.