I think that's the theory. I've never bought into it, and I've never liked it. As a consignor, why take the chance of making bidders feel stupid if they go much much higher than the supposed "estimate?" As a bidder, it's only a distraction. Isn't the auction itself supposed to provide the information of what something is worth? What business is it of the AH to make a guess at that, which they're not really doing anyway. Silly game with no good purpose, In my opinion. But they'll tell you til they're blue in the face how clever they are to do it, those "pros from Dover."
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