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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;benhur767, post: 4499618, member: 36818&quot;]I can&#039;t find anything in the CNG terms and conditions stating that they will keep proxy bids confidential.</p><p><br /></p><p>It&#039;s not illegal to announce the amount needed to &quot;clear the book.&quot; Yet as another poster mentioned, it destroys confidence in advance bidding, especially if this was not their previous practice.</p><p><br /></p><p>Most reputable auction houses maintain bidder confidentiality. This means not only keeping the bidders&#039; identities a secret, but also not revealing their maximum bids. Most bidders — myself included — bid a maximum with the hope that the bidding won&#039;t ever reach that maximum. Maximum means &quot;as great, high, or intense as possible or permitted.&quot; It&#039;s an extreme. It&#039;s what one <i>must</i> pay if absolutely necessary to obtain an item, not what one truly wishes to pay, or thinks he should pay.</p><p><br /></p><p>I think that the majority of buyers feel this way, and the majority of auctioneers understand those feelings and respect them. Respect for those feelings isn&#039;t about being nice people, it&#039;s about attracting bidders and higher maximum bids. It&#039;s good for business.</p><p><br /></p><p>Ultimately, however, the buyer is merely a customer. The consignor is the client. Auctioneers have a fiduciary responsibility to the consignor, not the buyer. This means that the auctioneer is obligated by law to act in the consignor&#039;s best interest.</p><p><br /></p><p>Again, it isn&#039;t illegal to &quot;clear the book&quot; in the way that CNG has done, if they feel that it will serve to maximize the sale results. However, it may be considered unethical or at least unsavory to most buyers. To my way of thinking, a maximum bid that is automatically maxed out is just a bid. It is therefore intentionally misleading, and what is intentionally misleading is unethical. It&#039;s a bid, not a &quot;maximum&quot; bid.</p><p><br /></p><p>To me the practice seems counterproductive. If the bidder knows that his bid will be automatically maxed out, it will discourage advance bidding, which will suppress auction results and work against the consignor&#039;s best interest.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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