Posted By:
Judge Dred (Fred)The reason people bid in Mastro auctions (as well as other reputable auction houses) is because people feel trust in these establishments. I hope I'm not naive in believing that they don't monkey with the software and that they don't manipulate the auctions. REPUTATION - these auction houses work off of their repuations. The first question I'd ask myself is why would anyone want to totally screw up a money making machine by getting a little greedy? Personall, I don't see it and I hope I'm not the kid that say's "Say it aint so, Joe" because that's how much I believe these guys run an honest business. I can see people having others bid on their material. To me that would amount to consignor shilling which would be beyond the control of the auction house. It would bother me to know that someone was doing that but the auction house can't do anything to control that aspect of the business. I would hope that an auction house would do something about that type of situation if they got wind of that type of activity. The bottom line is that in an honest auction if someone shills their own item they run the risk of eating the buyers commission if they won their own lot. I hope I'm not naive....