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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Here's an interesting postulation:

Let's say you were a lesser-known dealer or the proprietor of an auction house and somebody approached you with an authentic Wagner in the hopes that you would broker the deal. Would you:

A. Sell it yourself to gain all the free publicity/advertising, or

B. Have one of the larger auction houses handle it (if it meant a substantial increase to your billfold)?

I have been juggling this question around in my mind since hearing about the Wagner that was just sold. Personally, it would be quite a difficult decision for me. There are obviously many factors at play here. Here are some:

--Any major auction house would be more than happy to sell this item at 0% to the owner. On the other hand, would they be willing to tip their hat to you, the competing dealer/auctioneer, in any publication or their own catalogue? I think they would likely find a way to make both ends happy, but...

--Is the extra money you would make worth all the free publicity you would ultimately be giving to your stronger competitor? After all, their name would likely appear first in any sort of collaborative title.

This has been plaguing me for the past few days. There are several other points I would like to add, but didn't want to take away from the main question. I'll be happy to add more later/provide further clarification later on, as this conversation deems fit.