Consignment/Auction House Question

[raulus]

Originally Posted by etsmith

You also have to consider that the largest auction houses may be in collusion with each other, we've seen it before.

I guess that’s a possibility! At the same time, they seem to compete pretty fiercely against each other, so I have a hard time imagining them really colluding together.

But if collusion were occurring, it would also seem like a great opportunity for a smaller upstart to take market share. Or a new entrant to do it.

Of course, there are some decent barriers to entry that limit the ability of a new competitor to just start a new auction house and have it take off. The new operator would have to really want it, and would need to have a good chunk of change to finance the ramp up.