Posted By:
RobertEdwardAuctionsIn response to Dan's post:
"Paranoid auction house bidder? February 25 2005, 8:35 PM
This may seem paranoid- but every time i left a high max bid on an auction house auction, it seemed that no matter what, i would win it for the max if i won it at all. It was never lower than the max.
I started to think maybe there way a way the house could see the max bids and pad out the auctions. I have no proof of this, but i have to say it has affected how i bid on non-ebay auctions
Has anyone ever thought of this?
Dan"
With the exception of eBay auctions and Robert Edward Auctions (see Honest Auto Bid information at "http://www.robertedwardauctions.com/rea_bid.html" all auctions can and do see each and every max bid you place. The auction houses have never claimed otherwise. In the absence of utilizing the Honest Auto Bid style system there is no way for them to NOT have access to the Max bids when they are placed. So max bids are always placed "in confidence" with the auction houses, who in many cases own the material being auctioned and as an entity may actually allow themselves to bid in their own auctions, and whose employees and executives also may consign and bid in their own auctions, and who have many incentives for prices to be higher on items they do not own as well. If the auction house, auction house executives, and all of the employees (who include many very good friends of consignors) who have access to this information are all honest, then of course there is absolutely no issue and absolutely nothing to be concerned about whatsoever.
Last year Honest Auto Bid was profiled in Auctioneer Magazine, the official publication of the National Auctioneers Association, and in the article all auction houses were invited to inquire about the possibility of adopting Honest Auto Bid, just as we do on our site ("We invite any and all bidders, members of the media, as well as other auction houses potentially interested in adopting these systems, to contact us to verify and receive a demonstration of the 100% guaranteed security of this significant, and in our opinion, revolutionary bidding system feature.") No auction house has yet inquired (though many individuals have).