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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Kenny brings up a good point. Just because an auction house says something is so, i.e., that they don't allow employees to bid, they don't commit fraud (using shills to bid or run people up) and they will disclose lots that they own doesn't mean they are telling the truth. That being said, when they make certain pronouncements and then are easily caught in lies due to the multitude of witnesses which exist they are setting themselves up for a possible criminal prosecution. I suppose in order to gauge which auction house is telling you the truth when they make such annoucements of virtue, you have to figure which principals of the auction houses are sociopaths and willing to break the law.

Edited to add: And for what it's worth, transparency is huge. The more the better. If one trusts the auction house, the additional transparency will only engender more good will. The auction houses that refuse to provide transparency are usually either hiding something or give the appearance that they are hiding something. There is no downside to transparency is my point.