Part
II- Autograph Auctions-Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware)
"If we
turn our back on a fire (problem)and our backside gets singed
we will soon learn that we have to sit on the blisters."-------Abraham Lincoln
"They
say the acquisitive desire, strong in a magpie and even stronger
in a human, is nothing more than a savage instinct, an uncontrolled
desire to seize upon a treasure and hoard it away."----Charles Hamilton in Auction
Madness*
Charles Hamilton*
wrote extensively about dishonesty and collusion in autograph
auctions 30 years ago and most of today's collectors are well
aware, based on their own experience, that any such auction may
be a dicey place to do business. But dishonest auction practices
are not restricted to autograph auctions.For example, note the
recent reports that certain of the great New York auction houses
were convicted for collusion and price fixing in some of their
art auctions. Because of these and other widely reported abuses
it is a wonder that either various consumer protection groups
or the government have not demanded that auctions in general
be reformed. For those of you familiar with the argot of flying,
many auction bidders might as well be bidding in a Link Trainer
(flying blind) because most auctions are not audited to ensure,
among other things, that all bids were legitimate and were submitted
in competition with other bidders and not after the auction .
Most auctions even more than the bourses, then, are in part what
remains of the 'Wild West' in American commerce.
Let us turn now
the intrinsic problems in of today's autograph auction market
(other than ebay auctions).The following are major concerns:
- The results
are not audited by an independent auditing firm. Anyone who participates
in an auction that has no real transparency does so at their
own risk and, in many instances ,at great risk to their money.
- There is evidence
that some auction houses buy in a consignment at the minimum
bid while disregarding other bids and then they resubmit the
item at a later auction to realize a profit to the disadvantage
of the original consignor. We have heard this story so many times
from clients there must be some merit in it. One client said
that when he saw his material FOR WHICH HE HAD RECEIVED RESERVE
BIDS MINUS SELLERS PREMIUM reappear at the same auction house
in a later auction BUT AT HIGHER RESERVES, he sent his Dad, a
retired NYC policeman, to the auction house with evidence in
hand where, needless to say, his Dad extracted a settlement.
- One of the most
disconcerting auction practices is the 10 or 15 or whatever minute
rule that allows open-ended bidding into the wee hours. This
is a distinct disadvantage to high bidders and there is ample
proof it is a sham and isn't followed in any event. An auction
should begin at a stated time and end at a stated time and a
bidder should know their status when the auction closes. Bidding
at auction should not be an endurance test. This rule is the
bane of bidders and opens the auction up to unlimited abuses.
We have never seen a justification of this nonsense by any auctioneer.
- Favored clients
(big buyers/consignors) have the opportunity to buy after the
auction at a dollar more than the high bid recorded during the
auction-this actually happened to us in association with a colleague
who cannot be identified for obvious reasons. This after auction
bidding was common practice at certain private auctions in the
past.
- In the New York
autograph auctions it is well known that some dealers collude
to 'divide up the spoils' agreeing not to bid against one another
on certain pieces. This pattern of bidding is well know to the
auction houses and they do nothing about it.
- Large dealers
collude with certain auction houses to have a piece falsely bid
up to a high price and it is recorded as a sales price when no
sale occurred. Months later the dealer may offer the piece for
sale using the bogus sale price as the benchmark for their new
asking price while pointing out to their clients that "a
piece just like this sold for X at auction recently".
- The issue of
authentication at auctions is a bigger morass than most buyers
realize. Some of the auction houses actually have the effrontery
to tell you in advance they are relying solely on their 'authenticators'
and that , in so many words, just try to get your money back
if what you purchased is a forgery or was misrepresented. The
following is a recent 'authentication' episode:
{ A very important
presidential piece was offered at a major Americana auction.
The piece was framed. The LOA was by one of the most well know
names in the field. The problem was, this piece had involvement
by someone who has been associated with the ability to produce
very good 'copies' (a free between-the-lines reader is available
from us if needed) of the same president. The 'authenticator'
was asked if the item had been examined out of the frame considering
the reputation of those involved. The answer was "no".
So here you have a top individual in the field authenticating
an important historical item that was never properly examined.
That violates one of the most important
criteria for authenticating an autograph or manuscript i.e.
that the item be given a direct examination,not while framed,
including an examination under high power and an examination
of both sides of the document with transillumination to detect
tell tale watermarks. }
And the above
reflects just part of the problem with authentication by autograph
auctions. The multiple errors and shortcomings of the established
authentication services that some auctions use has been dealt
with previously on this site --link above.But some of the authenticators
at auctions are even less qualified than some of the better known
'authentication services'. For example, there is a collectibles
auction house that uses a 20-some year old 'expert' with no bona
fides in the field as their 'authenticator". Furthermore,
the more gradiose the name under which hese charaltans operate
the less likely there is underlying expertise or, as they say
in Texas," the bigger the hat the fewer the cattle."
The foregoing
may be a less than complete detailing of the snares autographist-bidders
may encounter in auctions but at least it is a beginning attempt
to put our clients on guard and educate them. Our approach to
the problems in this market has been three fold.
First we have attempted to warn
and educate our clients.
Second we offer the following practical
suggestions:Be certain to read the conditions and terms of any auction
before bidding. You will be surprised what you learn.Their terms
often contain what Churchill referred to as "terminologocal
inexactitudes" so if these conditions are not clear or satisfactory,
call the auction house for either a clarification or to effect the
change you want with respect to yourself and get the agreement with
you in writing.Read the catalog carefully and if there is an item
of interest call your dealer and have him or her look at the item
and give an opinion as to the likelihood of its authenticity. Also
do not hesitate to call the auction house to discuss the item. You
may be surprised at what you find as happened recently when an auctioneer
admitted that there was a major authenticity questions about a Presidential
White House Card and a very famous Western outlaw item in their
auction. Both pieces were auctioned despite that : one brought several
thousand dollars.If there is an individual listed as an authenticator,
call them and ask them to what extent the item of interest was examined-(cf.
episode mentioned previously of the presidential item having been
'authenticated' in the frame).Make certain that you have established
the terms under which matters of authenticity will be resolved-and
get it in writing. You want auction house that stand behind their
merchandise and not behind 'authenticators.'
Third, we have encouraged auction
houses to adopt higher standards and to start providing bidders
with audited results on their auctions. Here we could use pressure
from collectors. There is a good reason some autograph auctions
as run by their satrap owners are conducted as they are---that
is, BECAUSE CONSUMERS TOLERATE IT and because it is not in the
interest of the auction houses to change unless forced to do
so. Among the auction houses we have contacted there is only
one company, The Written Word Autographs led by Dan Rowe, who have agreed in writing
to hold an auction that abides by the stated rules, that begins
and ends at the proscribed time and that will provided an independently
audited report on the auction. This auction, the second one of
which will be held on October 6, 2007 should be supported by
everyone interested in raising standards of integrity in this
field.
Now, the matter
of ebay auctions. Anyone who knows the first thing about this
field knows that ebay often is an even more dangerous place to
buy autographs than the private auctions. There are no clear
statistics as to how many ebay autographs are bogus but the percentage
is high. Nonetheless, if you are careful, you occasionally find
a legitimate good deal but finding one these days is very time
consuming. The dealers you might be willing to buy from anyway
and who also sell on ebay do not offer bargains: they know the
value of what they have. And fewer and fewer good dealers are
selling on ebay because prices have been so weak. One special
piece of advice-stay away from ebay PRIVATE AUCTIONS. If you
accept that transparency is a problem throughout the auction
industry nowhere is it more so than in PRIVATE ebay auctions.
There is not a single circumstance under which an item should
be bid on in this type of auction-none. If you see PRIVATE AUCTION
or sellers with PRIVATE FEEDBACK, paint your backside white and
run with the antelopes. Finally, most legitimate dealers ask
sellers the source of what they want to sell. Under most circumstances,
if that source was ebay, a dealer would not want to buy and later
sell such an item.So buyers of ebay autographs often are buried
in their acquisitions.
In closing, autograph
auction abuses have a long history and, as mentioned previously,
were outlined in great detail back in 1981 by Charles Hamilton
in his book Auction Madness. In fact he has a glossary
at the end of his book that uses different and somewhat more
colorful terminology to describe many of the abusive practices
outlined herein-or, as he wrote, "what goes on behind the
velvet curtain." The book is well worth reading but somewhat
discouraging to those who tilt at windmills hoping that the "better
angels of our nature" will someday preveail and that the
autograph auction market will be conducted with more integrity
than it is today in some instances. You read CH's book from 1981
and you realize not much has changed. As an industry, we can
do better.
*Reference:Auction
Madness by Charles Hamilton, Everet House, New York, NY,
1981. In this book, Hamilton was urging reform but toward the
end of his career years later he was accused of the same unethical
practices he had decried.