The auctions those newly discovered Bond posters came from were not outed. However, the posters purchased in those auctions were indeed shared on this forum AFTER THE SALE. If the person sharing the newly discovered Bond poster had done so BEFORE the original auction ended you are admitting that they would have increased their competition because you yourself would have been interested. How can you then claim that outing an in-progress auction "has little or no negative effect (Read: Higher sale price) on the outcome".
You are conflating two different issues:
1. Outing an in-progress auction can potentially lead to extra bidders and a higher final sale price.
2. Discussing a previously sold poster on this forum can potentially lead to extra bidders and a higher final sale price on the NEXT COPY to come up for sale.
I am editing this as my initial attempt at posting was done on the train: it lead to a half-assed attempt to read and respond. Sorry.
You are exactly right. I am conflating two different issues. (I had never heard of the word 'conflate', so thank you for bring that to my attention.)
1. On this forum, I believe it won't lead to extra bidders as everyone on this forum is at the top of their game and if interest is sufficient, they will already be aware of the poster's existence. However, if one were to Out a poster on every other type of collecting / antiques / richpeoplesforums.com, type of platform, then yes, maybe this will indeed lead to a higher price. But that is not happening and is not what we are discussing here.
2. Yes, the post-purchase discussion of a poster can also lead to the next poster turning up for auction acquiring more bidders and more awareness. So, in the spirit of selflessness, should we also then Not discuss that which could lead to some other's downfall in the poster purchasing stakes? Which means this forum and its raison d'etre ceases to exist.
I just cannot see where it begins and ends. To be a complete pain in the ass, I could also say that, On This Forum, if a dealer is made aware of a forum member's awareness of the dealer's poster being for sale / auction, then said dealer cannot then pop it up in the Dealer's or For Sale forums.
At the end of the day, a bidder has the freedom of choice to bid to a certain level, And, in the best interests of the business of film, more than one poster was always printed of a given title - another will always turn up.
Fellas, this is the environment and age in which we live. It's a game and I would just prefer to languish in the sharing of knowledge of all than to sweat over a poster going for an arbitrary sum too much for my pocket.