[drcy]

For the record and in response to previous comment on my post, I specifically said bidding with an auctioneer where you know (are consciously and keenly aware) he is using unethical and possibly illegal practice(s) to covertly cheat customers out of their money. I didn't say anything about where you are ignorant to the practice(s).

And, yes, I do think it is a problem with this hobby that collectors continue to give money to auction houses they know cheat and break the law. These collectors supply the money that keeps the auction houses in business. As soon as the well of money goes dry in protest or response to the practices, the auction houses will either go out of business or change their practices.

Do I have a practical, real world solution to the previous paragraph? No. I am aware that many collectors follow the stuff and I never claimed to know how to heard cats. If a seller has a card a collector 'needs,' the seller has the card the collector 'needs.' . . . I put needs in quotes, because people don't really need a card. They just really, really want it. "The heart wants what the heart wants," as an old girlfriend once said.