Posted By:
Joe D.cmon!
give me a believable scenario.
Dan brings up a good point as you say.
And, I am sure many bidders will follow the best items wherever they are.
But, could this be the chicken and the egg argument?
How did that 'awesome item' get there in the first place...
maybe from a loyal consignor who was given his Sloate Reward points when he was just a bidder on a common item. He remembered that you treated him fairly - and he remembered you went above and beyond by giving him a discount on the next item he purchased from you. Actually, it was hard for him to think of dealing with any other auction house because he has had repeated good experiences with you. Repeated because of your honesty and integrity. And repeated because every time he purchased one item, he had a financial reason to purchase another in the next auction. What a great auction house he said to himself. Now, he had this great Matty item to consign - and he had no question in his mind where he should send it.
And lets just say - I have my loyalty reward sitting there from Sloate... and I see an awesome item from a competitor... yes, I will bid with that competitor. I will follow that great item. But I am still going to keep an eye on building up my Sloate reward points and participating in your auctions.
Its not a ground-breaking idea, and is used in many industries... Restaurants reward frequent visitors, Airlines award frequent flyer miles, etc.
It has its drawbacks, heck - it may not be a good idea at all... but I was just trying to give an example of somthing that could be done in response to JCs #9 and yours and scotts query as to what more could be done.
Now - to your question about rudeness. There is no question in my mind! If an auction house person was disrespectful to me, and then they had the ultimate Matty item in their upcoming auction... I would not bid. Not one penny. I will definitely find another place to spend my money. The way I see it... there are definitely more cool items out there than I have money for, so I am not going to get them all. I don't need to send money to someone who treats me disrespectfully. I would pass on the item without losing one wink of sleep.