Posted By:
Bob CThis is the exact reason I am not comfortable with this auction house...allowing employees to bid, perhaps even on their own items, then using Christies and Sotheby's, two companies that have had legal problems with shill bidding etc. in the past, as examples of other companies with similar practices. I am sorry but this is not the way to provide confidence or win trust from my point of view. I will say it is better that they identify which items are owned by Mastro or its employee's.
Interestingly enough, when I or someone I know win something at a decent price from this auction house, we usually comment "it must have been a consignor lot". This is a very logical statement based on the fact many items are owned and watched by Mastro employees and I suspect don't go to the highest Mastro employee bidder.