The High Cost of Auctions-- Sotheby's increases buyers fee!

[Archive]

Posted By: Jason L

It is weird, isn't it (maybe even, dare I say, perverse!) that the percentage take that the auctioneers are getting has gone up so much (2x to 2.5x) since 1991, while the following things have happened:

1) Ebay emerges to make buying and selling a very accessible activity, increasing liquidity probably hundreds-fold

2) Prices of the underlying assets have skyrocketed

What a bizarre business, this auction thing.
I mean, at the most base level analysis, there's far more of the product available, more often, and the stuff is far more valuable than it ever used to be.
Aside from the glossy catalogs, (which are indeed, quite nice), where do these companies get off taking a larger slice of the pie than they used to?
The only value-add that I see is in the practice of alteration prior to auction....ohhh....wait a minute!
Ha!
nevermind!




PS - Barry, you are excluded from the above company