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Posted By: JimB

I don't think the question is wether or not auction houses allow employees to bid in their auctions; the issue is honesty and transparency with which they do it. An auction house can have a strict policy against it and than is not going to stop employee X from getting a friend to bid on an item he wants. Most people working at auction houses are in the business in part because they love this stuff. It just needs to be done honestly and openly.

And I don't have a problem with Barry or any other auction house auctioning items they own, but there should be a policy of full disclosure in my opinion. If one knows, then one can look at the item description with a more critical eye and carefully observe the bidding on that item.

While I think it is important to keep a watchful and critical eye on the powers that be in this hobby and to let them know they are being watched, at the same time a little balance would be nice. I think we often get all riled up into a bit of hyteria and paranoia on this site more often than is healthy for the hobby.
JimB