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Posted By: scgaynor

Joe, quoting unrealistic prices has always been one of my pet peeves as well, because if you can't deliver, the consignor is going to think that you didn't do a good job. I have always thought it was best to be a little conservative with estimates, but sometimes you lose things that way too, especially to those who don't know what they have.

Dan, i think that the days of the 10% buyers premium are gone. Unless you were doing an auction that had only $10,000+ pieces, the auction house would find themselves out of business pretty quick. Although it is possible that having an internet only auction without the expense of a catalog might change that in the future, or at least keep the buyers premium from going up more.

Barry brings up a good point about being in constant communication with the consignor, but are there people out there who would rather have the process be even more simple. For example, would it be easier to have a form online that can be printed out so that the consignor can submit material without having to call first. Is the process of calling an auction house and having to explain your collection intimidating?

Thanks

Scott