[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by benjulmag

FWIW, the fact that the major auction houses (e.g., Sothebys, Christies, etc.) across all fields of collecting employ the method of hidden reserves with the house being allowed to secretly bid up to the reserve, suggests to me this method works in achieving the highest prices. That it might piss off some bidders who will therefore not bid is more than offset by the higher prices it generates among those bidders who participate. Conceptually it makes sense it would work, as it reduces the number of bidders required to achieve the desired price from two to one.

In regard to the demand curve, for the most desirable items it is very inelastic. Because of that, bidders who really want the item will knowingly choose to take the bait and bid, fearing that, even though unlikely, if there is that "real" second bidder, they will have no chance of buying the item after the auction.

The end result it is there in most Auction Houses. WE have the options both where to consign or sell our cards and we have options on where to buy or bid on cards.

There are some Auctions Houses I prefer to deal with and others I prefer to attempt to avoid. But if the Right Card that I want or need is available I might need to bid/buy from an Auction House I would prefer not to. But Again I have the choice.

Most of the cards I ever bought or sold never had a reserve (that I knew of) so it was not as much a factor (but what I do not know I do not know)