How to get ripped off by SCP Auctions & Sotheby's

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Posted By: Corey R. Shanus

Aside from the tears, there is nothing in the cropped area except grass. Auction houses typically have a policy of depicting the salient features of a photograph and cropping out the portion deemed to be of insignificant interest to perspective bidders. This policy both allows the salient features to be shown in greater detail as well as saves valuable catalog space. The act of cropping is an intentional act. I agree with that. But going back to Ryan's photo, as long as Sotheby's can make the case the cropping was done as part of standard procedure without thought of hiding salient features and misleading prospective bidders, I don't believe it qualifies as fraud. And I do believe the cropper was focusing only on the grass, not the creasing (which appears elsewhere in the image and is mentioned in the catalog description and so therefore was not deemed material enough to keep in). Was the cropper stupid/careless? Yes. Hence the action for negligence. Also, Ryan makes mention that he received the item matted and framed. That leads strong credence to the notion that all that was cropped out was the frame, which certainly in the eyes of Sotheby's was not a salient feature. And why you might ask should they not mention the item was framed so as to give a prospective bidder further notice that the depiction might be omitting important details? Answer--arguably they should have, which will be a further part of the negligence action.

Fraud is a much stronger term than negligence, and it just blows my mind that Sotheby's on such a trivial item (to them) as this would commit fraud and risk so much.