Quote:
Originally Posted by Kamakiri
...Pure mathematics drove the price down, not the procedure...
|
I know more than a few mathematicians that would disagree with you. The procedure can and does materially alter realized prices.
There is an anomaly in auction result prices, that has been observed time and time again, in that when substantially similar items are auctioned in sequence, the first will realize the highest price, and the last will realize the lowest. This was in play on Saturday morning. I bought the first RCA 630TS for more than the second.
Also look at the Elli Buk auction, the first Clifton realized the highest price, the final was a relative bargain.
It has also been observed, at least in auction houses like Bonhams and Christies, that prices tend to decline as the day wears on. There is a small but vocal minority that seems to discount this effect, but a substantial amount of research does seem to support this idea. If this is the case, which it appears to be, then auctioning the items of most value first would help maximize realized prices, and thus maximize the amount of profit enjoyed by the museum.
I personally don't care one way or another, and in fact I suspect I was able to do so well on that Remington because the auction was nearing the end. The last private sale I know for a Remington-Rembrandt set was closer to the $1K mark.
In any case, my comment wasn't intended to offend. It just struck me as extremely odd, as someone who attends plenty of classic car auctions, antique auctions, and just about every major Northern Soul and Motown auction, that the highest valued items were auctioned right in the middle. The almost universal practice is to open with the big ticket stuff, in descending order of estimated value.
If a simple tweak has the ability to realize even slightly higher prices, why wouldn't it be implemented? I think the auction went very well, and I liked the elimination of the silent auction. I also think I speak for everyone when I say I appreciate the efforts of you Tim, Darryl, David, Dave A. and Steve K. But like anything else in life, it isn't perfect and there are very small changes that could be made to tangibly improve it.