Mel, Mel, Mel... where do I begin? You are responding like someone who was caught making a half ass argument and instead of admitting they were wrong, they double down with a bunch of dubious facts and figures trying to confuse the issue! None of the statements you made support your premise... that outting a poster will definitely *not* affect the final auction value.
First of all, quit playing the victim... no one ever said you 'ruined' the Bond quad auction. We are having a philosophical debate about the pros and cons of discussing auction items before they end. I listed a whole bunch of cons... I have yet to hear you list a single pro. At best you are trying to claim you are doing no harm. And I don't count discussing something for the sake of discussing something a pro.
As for this Bond quad auction, I stated before you did that this poster would probably end up at $3.5K-$4k, if not much higher. I said 'probably' because Bond is a popular target for collectors and I've seen the hand quad go for similar amounts even in obscure auctions outside HA and Christies. However, you stated 'It's going to blow $4,000+ at the end' like it is a guaranteed fact. It very well might for the reasons I listed above, but that statement is not a fact you can use to back up your defense. It is still conjecture at this point.
You also make a big deal of the 'large' last-minute snipes on the Clockwork orange poster and try to hold that up as evidence that deals can't be had on eBay for high value posters. I say horseshit. Putting poster values aside for a second, do you really believe the presence of snipers means deals can't be had? I'm pretty sure we all use sniping programs here... you included. Have you never scored a deal with a sniping program? I know I have many times... even on high priced posters.
And I find it absolutely laughable that you are trying to use the Clockwork poster prove your point! This poster has sold on HA for $14,340, $15,535, and $19,120. Christies has only sold it once for $14,292. I'll flip your hyperbolic statement around and say that anyone who thinks that poster wasn't a bargain at only $6,677 is smoking crack. That poster sold for only 35%-47% of its past auction values... you tried to point to large last minute snipes, the presence of dealer bidders (which is also a strawman argument), and the 'behind the scenes' chatter (which you initiated by the way) as proof that this one didn't fall through the cracks... even without discussion in this mid-auction thread. I would argue this poster DEFINITELY fell through the cracks and this seller left a good $5K min on the table. You are again confusing your personal value proposition with the relative value of posters. Just because a poster sold for 'a lot of money' (your definition) does not mean the buyer spent 'a lot of money' for it (market's definition).
Once again, is it your right to 'out' whatever auction you want... but it is also my right to call you a reckless idiot who will eventually cost other collectors on this forum real money... apparently just so you can be provocative. As a lawyer I know its your job to put equal effort into defending both the good cases and the bad... but honestly, this one is a dog Mel and you need to walk away. By the nature of auctions, we'll never definitively know if outting an auction led another collector to pay more than they had to... but there are no pros to doing so. Why bother at all?
