Posted by Peter H on December 02, 2005 at 19:05:11 from 86.130.138.218 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Re: Dutch Auction posted by John Nichols on December 02, 2005 at 16:17:32:
Collusion takes place often at normal auctions, and is often just common sense. I do it myself. If I see a friend and fellow-collector in the saleroom, we will usually 'have a quiet word' beforehand, to agree not to bid on the same lots. Dealers do this the whole time. A more organised system of collusion is a 'ring', where dealers get together beforehand, one agrees to bid for a number of items unopposed, and then the others buy them off him afterwards. Auction houses try to ban this sort of thing, but detection can be difficult.