Please welcome our new mascot:
But I digress.
Corey has it spot on: the AH foregoes the BP it would have made otherwise, so while there is no money exchanged it effectively loses the BP on the sale if an item is picked up for the house. And as anyone who has tried to profit from flipping knows, there are no guarantees. I do my best to find bargain lots I can flip. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. It isn't an exact science. HA also has to pay to store, insure and then for staff time to relist an item. They are slow as molasses to work a consignment through anyway, so those costs are real, even if they are hard to isolate.
As for the optics, I don't see the problem. I find HA to be one of the more consistent auctioneers. HA tells you exactly what to expect right up front in its rules. Whenever I bid on their site I have to tick a box acknowledging the auction terms, which are linked right there, so there is no reason to cry foul when they do what they say they are going to do and give you the chance to read their rules every time you bid. If I don't agree i can skip their auction. If enough people skip their auctions, maybe they change the rules. But the vitriol here, come on guys, we are better than that; it's just a hobby. It isn't supposed to be a cause of stress.