[chadeast]

The issue that many have with the BP, I would guess, is that auction house hopes that you don't factor it in when you're in the midst of bidding, since it is invisible during the auction. I give Lee a lot of credit for showing the total bid with BP at Sterling. Many auction houses don't do this, though they very easily could. Ask yourself why they don't. It's in the hope that bidders feel like they're paying less in the moment (or perhaps are new and don't know about the 20% BP yet), thus hopefully resulting in higher closing prices. It could be argued that it costs even the winners who are fully aware of the BP, if they are bidding against someone who is either not aware of it or is aware but still influenced in the moment by the 'lower' price (without BP) being displayed.