Auction House descriptions of items lacking obvious details

[doug.goodman]

Apologies for this mini rant...

I understand when ebay or similar site descriptions are less than great, because many sellers are just selling as a hobby, but with "real" auction houses...

When you have a lot that contains multiple items WHY NOT LIST EACH OF THE ITEMS!!???

How hard can it be?

I can understand that there might not be room in the printed catalog, but on the website, there is no excuse, other than laziness and / or not doing their best to make as much money as possible for themselves and their consignor.

The more detailed the description, the more potential interest from buyers, and isn't that the main job of the auction house, to get as much interest from buyers as possible?

Recently, I didn't bid on a couple of lots in an auction because when I emailed them to ask about the specifics of the lot I got a quick response, which was appreciated, but was told "sorry, we're not in the office today" and since it was the last day of the auction, and I didn't want to buy a big lot that only contained stuff I already have, I passed.

I know, it's my own fault for not asking the question earlier, but...

1 - list all the items in the lot
2 - be in the office on the last day of the auction

If either of those lots had contained items that I am looking for, I would have pushed the final price on each of them to twice the hammer price, so the seller potentially lost a bunch of money, and the auction house lost their cut.

I of course still have money in my wallet, so no big deal on my end, since the chase is more fun than the catch anyway.

Every auction house is guilty of lacking on details, so this little rant isn't naming names, but three different houses have received emails from me in the last week asking questions that really shouldn't need to be asked.

Doug "just trying to help sellers make money" Goodman