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Posted By: Pas

Your argument seems to proceed from the premise that avoiding legal liability is what drives auction houses. To summarize: 1) It is in their interest to disclose as much as possible that people don't care about; because that will minimize their chances of being sued. 2) Ergo, if they aren't disclosing grading history, it can only be because people DO care about it.

I don't think that sort of proof by inductive reasoning works here. I prefer the logic that if this really mattered to bidders, they would be pressuring auction houses to disclose it, and competition would require them to do so. Therefore, the fact that auction houses are not disclosing it must mean that bidders don't care, in general.

EDITED TO ADD There may indeed be such a lawsuit, but how would the plaintiff respond if cross-examined as to why he didn't simply inquire as to grading history if it mattered to him? Surely, given the industry practice not to disclose (I have NEVER seen such a disclosure) the buyer could not reasonably assume there was no prior history.