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Posted By: Joann

Hi Barry,

I think you hit is squarely on the head with the comment on reputation. This hobby - and the business aspect of it - is very much driven on reputation. It amazes me sometimes how much money changes hands and how much of it is based on reputation, even in the face of so many very public and frequently discussed concerns.

I guess that's what I meant about tightening the game and making some practices more public and transparent even for honest sellers. If an auctioneer is already engaging in honest practices and able to put some structure to those practices, then why not make that published policy? I'm thinking about it more in terms of generating some momentum not just for certain practices, but for open proclamation that an auctioneer is abiding by some practices and providing certain safeguards.

I definitely understand there would be ways to defeat the attempts, system, safeguards, all of it. But maybe it's one of those cases where you say that just because we can't do everything doesn't mean we can't do anything. Every little bit helps, and if this week can be better than last week it should be - even if it can't be perfect.

And to be clear, I certainly was not implying that other houses are not honest if they don't do similar things. I'm just looking at it from the point of view of taking these good and honest concepts and practices and adding some structure and even publicity to them - making them part of the competitive landscape so to speak.

J

ETA: Oh hell no. I'd have completely missed the contents of the bike basket. Nice catch Barry. hahahah