This looks interesting indeed

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by tbob

I have bid on and won auctions with both Heritage and Huggins and Scott and have never had any problems, but this is troubling news.
I would second that the Burks never cause me any concern with their auctions nor do Lew Lipset, Dave (Bagger) or the often lamented loss of Barry Sloate's auctions.
I bid frequently in Goodwin's auctions and haven't ever had a problem with them, do they keep employees etc. from bidding in their auctions?

Barry, Lew, and the Burke's were my favorites. Hunt, Heritage and Legendary have each given me great customer service when I had even small issues.

[barrysloate]

Thanks guys for still remembering me!

[danmckee]

Barry, you are unforgettable!

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by danmckee

Barry, you are unforgettable!

[hugginsandscott]

Board Members:

First, this is certainly not an easy situation to deal with and I do want to apologize to anyone who is upset. I have worked for Bill Huggins (originally with House of Cards) starting in 1985. We began Huggins and Scott Auctions in 2003 and I am part-owner and Vice President of the Company. The one thing I can tell you about Bill and this company, is that we pride ourselves on honesty, integrity and upholding the highest standards for this hobby that we all love. When an item’s authenticity is questioned, we pull them from the auction if we can’t confirm they are legitimate. When someone has a problem with a lot, we do everything we can to make it right for the customer including offering returns and refunds, which is unusual for auction houses, since rule #1 is “Everything is sold as is.”

I can tell you that House of Cards is an entirely separate entity from Huggins and Scott Auctions. They have no advantage over any other bidder in our auctions, other than they are physically closer to the lots and can view them – but so can anyone else who wants to view every lot in the auction. They also do not pay shipping charges – but neither does anyone else who wants to come to our offices and pick up their winnings. In fact, the original poster in this thread has come to the offices to preview lots and comes to the office to pick up his winnings – the exact same advantages as House of Cards has.

[hugginsandscott]

The way our auction system is developed is that NO ONE can see who is bidding on which lot, nor can they see how much they are bidding. Only those who place the bids know what and how much they are bidding. From a “code” standpoint, items that are active in the auction have a “0” code. As soon as the lot ends, it is converted to a “1”, which opens the bid history for us to see, however the lot is CLOSED at that point and nothing else can be done by anyone (in house or out) to modify it.

The fact that our honesty and integrity has been questioned (and in some cases, not questioned, but deemed “guilty of fraud”) is troubling, to say the least. I can assure each and every one of you, that no illegal activity has taken place in any of our auctions, nor will it ever take place. Bill Huggins, our President, has told me that if ANYONE would like to discuss this personally with him, he would be more than happy to do so, in a phone conversation during business hours. He is currently at the show in Somerset, NJ, but will return to the office on Monday and if you would like to ask him anything about this situation, or our company, he would be happy to have a conversation with you. He can be reached toll free at 1-866-462-2273. If you would like to have the conversation with me, I would also be more than happy to discuss this with anyone. You can contact the office and they will get the message to me and I will contact you back.

Thanks for reading.

Josh Wulkan
Vice President
Huggins and Scott Auctions

[Exhibitman]

Hidden reserves are used for an entirely legitimate purpose in some auctions that is unrelated to shilling. If a consignor wants to get a certain dollar for an item that the auctioneer does not think it will fetch sometimes the item will be offered with a hidden reserve to test the market to show the consignor what the item is worth. Some consignors will then authorize the auctioneer to offer the high bidder the chance to purchase the item at the max bid even though it did not reach the reserve.

[Bugsy]

Originally Posted by hugginsandscott

NO ONE can see who is bidding on which lot, nor can they see how much they are bidding.

Josh, it doesn't matter whether or not you or Bill know the amount of the max bids, it is still shill bidding. Bill's participation in the bidding not only inflates the final sale prices, but also increases the house's take on the buyer's premiums. Every time Bill bumps a lot, it increases how much Huggins and Scott pocket on the buyers premiums. That is exactly the point.