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Aaron M.Jim, it's been my experience in my admittedly limited years in relation to some of the more veteran collectors here on N54, that Rob Lifson and his REA have really been the only auction house always willing to answer these questions -- and what Rob does that really sets him apart is that he anticipates these questions and answers them and takes action before they become issues. Other auction houses just don't seem to be able to view a particular issue and know what an ethical response should be. Rob, meanwhile, was instituting policies of transparency and honesty before anyone was really asking him to.
This is what gets me about the current Mastro/Legendary situation and why I find it hard to believe nay real change has occurred.
Only now in the face of a seemingly failed business and criminal investigation has Doug instituted changes to his auction house (no employee bidding, maintaining bidding records, etc.) after years of resistance, whereas Rob has been doing that since the reintroduction of REA back in 2003, right?
Meanwhile, let's give Doug the absolute benefit of the doubt -- that if there were any unethical and/or illegal business practices going on they were part of the former business regime and Doug, Ron Oser and their partner were completely insulated from such activities and Legendary represents a completely fresh start. Great.
But the first thing he does is takes Mastro consignments and sticks them in his new venture's auction without notice or consent from the consignors.
Again, that's just a basic break-down of a threshold question of a person's business and ethical judgment. How can Doug not know that that is wrong?
I mean, if there's a provision in the consignment agreements that allows for unlimited transfer and/or assignment of the contract, I'd be surprised but at least what he did was not illegal in the sense that his actions were a breach of contract. But even if that provisions exists -- it's unethical, and at minimum just bad customer service, and does not treat the consigners (his business pipeline) with the respect and open and responsive communication they deserve.
Mastro is gone. The witch to Legendary even if an obvious attempt to keep that business alive, still lacks the former company's infrastructure and brand name. This is a major change that could effect the service and value offered to consignments. Consignors have no idea how this auction house will be run, what market reaction will be, what kind of prices it will command, and obviously whether their items will be features and promoted as they hoped. This is a major decision and consignors deserved a say in whether they wanted their material included. And yet Doug takes the consignments as if he owns them and had them in a published auction before the consignors even knew what was going on.
I just don't get it. How does Doug not understand this? Why doesn't he get it?