"Auctioneer Bashing" by Joe Orlando

[Archive]

Posted By: John

“One of the entities in our business that endures a great deal of abuse is the auction house. For the purpose of this article, I am talking about the high-end auction house. I am not including auction venues such as eBay, even though high-end items sell on sites such as this each day. These auction houses offer thousands of items each year, including many items in the $5,000 and higher category. We are talking about a segment of the industry that contains fewer than a dozen notable competitors yet they combine to generate nearly $100 million in revenue annually. Despite the sheer volume of items offered, some hobbyists are very quick to point out a mistake. Even if the mistake is only one in 1,000 lots, this type of person salivates at the chance to disparage an otherwise terrific sale. Maybe it’s personal or a result of character flaw in the offending party? Whatever the reason, it does nothing to help the hobby and it is often unfair to the target of such animosity.”

Right couldn’t agree more Mr. Orlando so why even take a chance with any questionable lot in the first place seems a shame to throw away such a reputation for a chance to make a few bucks…Why even take the chance to add disclaimers to any lot, if you need to add a disclaimer perhaps you shouldn’t auction the item to begin with.

"this type of person salivates at the chance to disparage an otherwise terrific sale."

Not sure the Nodgrass would have been a terrific sale...do you Mr. Orlando?

“If you see a problem with an auction lot, don’t you think the company would want to know if there’s an issue? While some auction houses may ignore the new information, the ones who are interested in preserving their name would embrace it, especially when they can avoid controversy and bad press.”

Great point again Mr. Orlando so where are we with this? Now’s a great time to bring some positive publicity to an unfortunate situation…one that you have been made aware of several times now for the record....

http://tinyurl.com/58uewb




Sound words of advice...thanks PSA!