Auction Houses-Going, Going..Gone?

[Archive]

Posted By: Cat

It looks like the system may very well be shaking out the overcharging of the buyers premium. From a distance, it looks like Mastro raised their overhead and started charging more for their services to cover large overhead costs. They tried to get into other service lines (art) that didn't seem to be their primary area of expertise which undoubtedly cost money to enter. Card buyers and consigners turned away in enough numbers that it caused cash flow problems. The investors said no additions to the line of credit. Now, we just have to see what the next steps are. They will likely adjust or suffer a death of their business.

It does not look like their business model can support their high overhead costs.

The system works.