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Posted By: Josh Siegel

There is an auction system in place that does help to eliminate the potential for auction houses to shill bid. The one catch with this system is that you have to be an actual auctioneer to participate. This means that you have to be an actual licensed auctioneer and not an internet auction company. This is he eBay Live auction format. The downside is that the Ten Minute Rule Auctions cannot be run withthis format. It is a good old fashioned auction format with absentee bids left on eBay with no one being able to tell what the high bid is until the item comes up for sale. There is a live floor audience like any LIVE auction. Think about it....an auction in it's truest form. Everyone leaves their best bid prior to the auction of follows along and bids in real time. Many auction houses do not like formats such as this because it takes too much control out of their hands. Also, licensed auctioneers have state rules to follow that do not apply to internet auctions. eBay does not promote the live auctions that well because they do not make as much $$$ as they want to so they can sometimes be easily overlooked. I think Mastro, Heritage, Sotheby's and a few others use this format for many of their auctions. Leon hasn't even had his first auction yet and he is being run over by critics. I'll be sure to not bid on one of the lots Leon owns!!! Why wouldn't I buy a card from a great collector. Some people just think too much for their own good. Instead of assuming everyone is a crook, just figure out who the crooks are and who the hobbyists are. A crook will always be a crook. If you have him disclose which lots he owns, the crook will have John Doe consign them!

Thanks for trying to run an honest gig Leon - Josh Siegel