Posted By:
CatChristies' economics doesn't make any sense. They state they are raising their BP because of 1) their losses, and 2) seller's are requiring a portion of the BP at this point. Seller's are making a statement on what Christies services are worth. Christies seems to simply be forcing sellers to chase that figure (sales price +) upward as their BP moves upward.
If I am a seller and believe that the auction house total commission is worth 15% (and this in a manner of words is what Christies seems to be saying), I am going to do the math and make sure that is their take - no matter what the BP is.
On a personal basis, as a buyer, I believe raising the BP has a negative impact on my bidding. When Mastro went to 20%, I thought it was egregious and didn't bid for several auctions because in my mind 20% was a rip-off -- even if mentally I was recalculating my bid to arrive at a sum-total bid which was the same no matter if the BP was 20% or 17.5%. As the title of the post reads, it's "psychology" and in this case "negative psychology." I have bought a couple items from Mastro since the 20% BP, but not as much as I used to.