Posted By:
Joe D.I agree with what you said.
My point was... if an auctioneer cannot claim to be completely impartial - they open the door to someone mistrusting the results of the particular lot, or worse the entire auction.
I am still not sure it matters either way... because it is well known that an auctioneer increases his benefit as the price of the item increases in the auction (whether the auctioneer owns the item or not)... so I guess you have to trust the auctioneer either way.
Edit to say:
Barry - I agree it would be much worse if the graders started selling cards. I was just thinking that the belief that they do not sell cards helps the hobby trust their work... similarly I think an auctioneer would be given the same extra level of trust if he could make a similar claim. But you are right... much worse if the graders started selling cards.