Aether Auctions

If you are a seller, do yourself a favor and find another auction service

The web and app experience introduced multiple issues that materially impacted the ability to participate in the auction. These were not minor inconveniences—they directly interfered with active bidding and should be addressed. We experienced repeated 404 errors when accessing “My Favorites” via the web browser. This issue was reproducible across multiple users, both on the same IP address and across different IP addresses, and occurred throughout the day of our auction. Users were unable to reliably access tracked items during active bidding. This is not expected behavior in a production environment and indicates a likely stability or routing issue. In addition, multiple users were unexpectedly locked out of the web interface during the auction. This affected multiple users across different IP environments and was most noticeable around lots seeing increased activity simultaneously. This caused direct disruption during live bidding windows and created a real risk of missed bids. On the mobile side, the search feature for past auctions does not function correctly. The behavior of the app suggests this functionality may not have been fully validated under typical user scenarios. It either returns current auction items instead of past results or no results at all. This issue has been consistently reproducible across multiple attempts. Current auction search appears to function as expected, and the web platform search works correctly for both current and past auctions. However, this limits usability for historical reference and undermines confidence in the reliability of both the mobile and web platforms. The combination of 404 responses and user lockouts—particularly during peak bidding activity—suggests potential session management or load-handling issues under increased traffic. As an end user—and as the family member following the auction—this experience was unnecessarily frustrating. The quality of the auction itself was high and we are extremely pleased, but the platform performance did not support it. These issues directly impacted usability during critical bidding moments. More importantly, lack of reliable access during active bidding directly affects participation, competition, and ultimately the final sale prices, impacting overall auction revenue. This was the first of three auctions for our family. I am hopeful these issues can be reviewed and addressed prior to the next auction.