Expansion of my last point.
Old system:
Player 1: bid
Player 2: bid
Player 1: bid
Player 3: bid
Player 1: bid
Player 4: bid
etc, etc, etc.
Under this system, bids occur in the thread, and everyone immediately knows what the high bid is so they can make determinations on what they will do next.
New System
Player 1: bid by pm
Seller: Updates original post, because he can't waste his valuable post quota. Many threads run the risk of ending here because nobody sees the bid that was posted, as the thread doesn't get bumped.
**assuming someone actually sees the thread and bids anyway**
Player 2: bid by pm
Seller: Updates, original post, pm's Player 1 because he might not otherwise be notified of a higher bid.
Player 1: bid by pm
Player 3: bid by pm
Seller: Updates original post, pm's all three players to notify them that Player 1 has the high bid, even though Player 3 bid the same number. Player 3 quits bidding because he suspects favoritism.
Player 4: bid by pm
Seller: Updates original post, pm's all four players to notify them of the new winning bid. While he is pming Player 1, Player 2 sends him a pm with a higher bid, and he has to start all over again.
Which of these two systems is going to cause more problems?