Posted By:
Jim LoewkeBarry Sloate response from November 24 2006, 10:10 AM
Jay- I have no problem disclosing this in future auction catalogs, but a question I throw out to the board is does anybody care? Would anyone place less of a bid on an item because I owned it vs. a consignor? I am curious how people feel, so I invite all to respond.
I am surprised that nobody else has a problem with this statement. I have bid, and fairly high also, on his material before, without knowing about this "practice". This should have been disclosed before the auction. I do not have any proof that he raised bids on his own items, be it to maximize profit or minimize loss on investment. But the absence of proof does not mean it did not happen. Regardless, this strikes me as a serious conflict of interest. There are no checks or balances in place to keep everything above board; how can we as bidders, be certain there is no "home shill bidding". If we are going to ask tough questions of Mastro and others, a regular poster like Barry should not be above reproach. Knowing this, I will think twice before bidding to win in his auctions.
For the record, I want to repeat, that I have absolutely no proof of any improprieties by Mr. Sloate. Just a fair amount of discomfort.