Mark
In all seriousness you kind of sound like an employee of an AH trying to justify shill bidding.
Its a shame IMO that the staggering buyers/sellers premiums aren't enough for the scoundrels at XYZ auction house that nets them upwards of 35% off the top of whatever value your item currently holds when most of them can't even be bothered to provide pictures of items proving authenticity but some feel IMO its their god given rite to charge an additional 20-25% through shill bidding practices to additionally line their pockets and look like heroes to their consigners in the attempt to bring back future consignments.
Unfortunately for anyone such as myself whose bid and won at an auction house common sense dictates IMO that shill bidding has been a standard business practice for the past 20+ years.
Most people involved in this practice of shilling who derive their living from these sales obviously don't see anything wrong with the practice since it appears and feels like its industry wide.
Does anyone really think that these AH's don't know who individuals are that are bidding in their auctions especially the higher rollers and what your spending and collecting habits are and what you might be willing to pay?
Does anyone in their rite mind really trust these AH's self policing themselves in regards to ethic violations with the easy money thats at stake?
Can anyone even imagine the shredding and deleting of incriminating documents that has and will continue to go on until big brother steps in?
Its also quite apparent that white collar crime pays these days as the punishment that is handed out is hardly a deterrent or fits the crime of bilking the public out of hundreds of thousands of dollars for years upon years.
I don't believe at this point give the sorry state of affairs of the hobby that any benefit of the doubt can be given to AH's without proof of their stated business practices and/or innocence in regards to these matters, without these auctions being run by some type of independent government appointed body to oversee these practices.
The cats been out of the bag for a longtime now in regards to these practices and it takes sensational stories to motivate people to speak out.
Its also quite apparent IMO that someone or something has motivated Game Used Collector to make the thread about this very subject unavailable on their site for the past 2-days.
IMO Its also quite disturbing the gestapo type tactics that have been and are being employed over at Ken Goldin's GUU to silence the community since IMO it is Ken who likes to portray himself in his marketing schemes as some type of friend and good guy to collectors.
IMO GUU is nothing more than a marketing arm of Goldin Auctions since its take over. It also appears IMO that only items that don't appear in Goldin Auctions can be publicly questioned now for fear of being banned or being publicly scolded for doing so.
Its a shame that the powers that be in this hobby feel the need to silence and or discredit anyone or thing that comes out and questions any of the misdoings and going on's that occur so frequently now that most hobbyists just want to turn a blind eye until they are confronted face to face with the truth.
IMO why doesn't Ken get off his high horse and explain himself in regards to this matter? instead of choosing to hide behind this posted reply on his behalf on GUU:
"I am aware, as is Ken, that his name appears as a consignor on the list made public by Doug Allen as part of his attempt to reduce his jail sentence. Ken will not be discussing this matter on any public forum, a matter that is over eight years old and references when he was a private collector five years before Goldin Auctions was formed. However, if it is important for you to hear from him, he will discuss this matter personally with you and has done so with a number of members already. His email address is
Ken@GoldinAuctions.com.
I also want to ensure our friends, consignors, bidders and business partners that this list has nothing to do with the current business of Goldin Auctions. When founded in the summer of 2012, Goldin Auctions was built with the interests of bidders and consignors in mind. From its beginning, it was explained to me that Goldin Auctions has implemented extensive ethics, rules and compliance safeguards built in to protect bidders and consignors including:
1. Goldin Auction employees do not have access to maximum bids. Our auction software provider has turned off, at our request, our ability to see your proxy/ceiling bids. A maximum bid placed online will never be known or seen by us in order to hold our auction process to the highest industry standards. This is for both bidder and consignor protection.
2. Goldin does not have access to passwords. While that can often cause an inconvenience when someone forgets their password, it gives bidders the assurance that their account is safe.
3. Goldin has a reserve system. We state the rules on reserves, and they are posted online. This avoids issues of hidden reserves or using shill bidding to meet a hidden reserve.
4. We use the highest authenticity procedures in the business. We will not sell non-authenticated items; we do not issue our own LOAs; we rely on the most respected industry experts for all authentications. In addition, as many of you know, even with these procedures in place we will still routinely pull items during an auction if there is a third-party authenticator error. Further, as many of you have experienced, when concern over an item is brought to our attention we are extremely responsive to any questions.
5. We implement limited credits for any new bidders. We do not give new bidders unlimited bidding rights with us when they register. We restrict them with a strict bidding limit until they have been proven to be credit worthy and legitimate users. Even with other auction references, we still place limits on most bidders initially to protect all other auction bidders and consignors.
For a complete list of our compliance rules, you can click the link below:
https://www.goldinauctions.com/rules.aspx
When I joined Goldin Auctions in February 2013, I researched the way the company was established and made a post as to why I was joining Goldin Auctions. As you know from my creating Game Used Universe in 2005, the credibility of the industry is of utmost importance to me and I will only associate with an entity I believe is committed to consistently doing what is right. I do not feel anything has changed with regard to Goldin Auctions. If it did, I would not continue in my position with them".
Sincerely,
Chris
__________________
Christopher Cavalier
Vice President of Consignments - Goldin Auctions
These are my opinions and views from my experiences over the past 35+ years of being a hobbyist
Ron Kosiewicz