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davidcyclebackPeople are allowed to consign to and bid in the same auction. I'm sure many people on this board do it. Meaning, if you consign one lot to a Mastro auction doesn't mean you're ethically forbidden from bidding on any of the other 1,999 lots ... Also, Knoll is not listed as employee of Mastro under the list of positioned employees (see print catalog). That Knoll is listed as an expert doesn't prove much, especially as he's not listed as an employee. He may merely be an advisor, meaning he gets a phone call once a month from Doug asking when the Phillies wore pinstripes.
A number of years ago I interviewed Doug for my website (he was kind enough to answer the questions). I asked him how much of the stuff in an auction was consigned and how much was owned by Mastro. He gave me some figure, with the Mastro owned lots being a small fraction. I asked the question merely out of interest and he answered honestly, and I'm sure neither of us thought it was a big deal. My point being that Doug has been open and honest about that issue literally for years, and, barring overwhelming evidence, he can be considered a candid. One can rightly complain that PSA avoids hard questions, but the same can't be said for Doug.