I hope you got a real good price for it @Islandmomma . It looks like a huge sellers market. I’m thinking of selling. But no, I think some auction realized prices are being driven up by consignors (I’ve witnessed it in action) and I never considered that ethical.
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@StevesTrail Thanks for this information. Even though I’ve never participated in an auction either locally or online, I consider this info good to know. I agree with you - the practice of consignors bumping up bids comes across as unethical.
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I actually feel like I sold it too cheaply. But then hindsight is always 2020. Thanks for the info about consigners being able to bid also. That was something that I was not aware of so I shall proceed with caution In the future.
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That is completely dirty for consigners to be able to bump up the prices of their own auction… That should seriously be against the rules. But at least that one auction is honest about it… That’s honesty that is certainly appreciated, but still doesn’t make the practice any better. I will certainly take caution if I ever bid at an auction!
@TaraFawn75 that is a beautiful piece! I agree with @Ziacat that I don’t really find bear claws to be my thing, but I really like the way that piece is fabricated.
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Shill bidding, straw bidding, and bidding against a “chair” used to be illegal in most states but I’m not sure when there is disclosure and I have not kept up on it so I don’t know anymore. I recommend checking with the individual state auction law that you are interested in.
Typically a reserve is put on an item to protect the sellers interest. The issue is that in many cases the seller wants the earth and the moon so as an item reaches a fair value bidding ceases and the seller has to pay some fee to the house. Sellers like shill bidding as legitimate bidders get caught up in the auction frenzy and start getting stupid on their bidding which results in a higher hammer price than would have been realized.
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I got notified of this listing ending yesterday. After I shut my gaping mouth, I screenshot the page. Wish I hadn’t sold mine.
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$4840.00 with that 21% buyers hit + shipping service costs
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I was stunned by that auction price. That necklace was damaged. It was missing the second row of beads. The price made no sense to me!
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Some of these people just don’t care. Obviously have more money than brains. Price did not even take in the buyers premium, the tax or the shipping. Leaves me scratching my head, wondering.
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I was shocked, although somewhat pleased that my Dad’s jewelry was so highly valued by someone. As much as I am trying to collect a wide sampling of his jewelry to hand down to my progeny, I didn’t even bid on this because it WAS damaged. It is highly representative of his work with the claws and leaves and the stones are from a quality lot, but that missing string cannot be authentically replaced. So I was seriously at a loss to understand why anyone would spend that much on it. Especially considering I won a better and complete piece for half that price just the day before. It is a conundrum, but one cannot know what goes on in the mind of another. I hope they get plenty of joy from the piece.
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Possibly they just really, really loved it, and had enough money to buy it at that price.
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That’s possible. Or, it’s a replacement for a similar one that they lost or missed out on. Sentimental value can be a powerful motivator.
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IMHO it’s usually more like auction fever. All you need is two people with the fever that have to have the same item and stupid sets in quick.
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You are ALL entirely correct. People buy things for so many reasons. It could have been any of those things or all of them. I very much understand sentimental value. The one I bought would have sold for a few hundred dollars back when Dad was making them (and probably cost about $50 to make) so my sentimental nature allowed me to pay what I did for the piece I bought despite the wince factor. Luckily, Dad loved to play the horses and won more often than not.
He cured me of ‘gambling fever’ early on. I don’t get ‘caught up’ in auction fever any more than I do gambling fever. So I can have fun doing both and not get upset when I lose.
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That is so wise. When I look at auctions involving Native American jewellery (almost always in the U.S.A.), I do a quick calculation to work out the likely final cost – including buyer’s premium, shipping to Canada, taxes/duties (plus brokerage fees if via FedEx/UPS/DHL), not to mention the exchange rate. The total can be shocking. So I rarely bid on auctions, and even more rarely win them. Sticking to the final bid price one has decided upon may be difficult, but in my experience it’s the only safe approach.
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