Posted By:
Joe D.It is a sticky situation that gets stickier when various possible scenarios are thought of.
When things are going good - everyone likes and trusts the auction house people - and stuff like this is a non-issue.
But if something goes wrong, or if someone complains to a media outlet (about any issue in an auction) - the media would love to spotlight that the auction house has a potential conflict of interest, or that they are not a neutral party in the industry.
Disclosure ahead of time is worth its weight in gold if anyone tries to finger point later on.