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On-line Bidding at Auctions - Caveat Emptor!

Posted: 22/09/17 (16:46pm)

I went to an auction yesterday to buy a sword. Several swords in fact.
I left home just after 3.30am yesterday to drive down to an auction in England. It was raining heavily, very dark and windy and the first hour and forty minutes of my drive was along winding, sheep and dear strewn country roads. The journey didn't improve once I reached the English border and continued down the M6 motorway. The heavy rain meant that the motorway was a fog of dense spray thrown up by every vehicle. My neck was stiff and my shoulders ached five hours later when I reached my destination. It was worth it though.

As always, I had planned my journey to get me to the auction with enough time to inspect the lots prior to the auction starting. This meant getting there several hours before my lots were going under the hammer because once the auction starts, viewing is no longer possible and in most cases, as with yesterdays auction, the lots are off limits.

Why not bid on-line? Why not request additional photographs and condition reports and bid from the comfort of my own home? It is certainly very easy and now-a-days there are several web based groups that facilitate doing so. Why not?
Because as was proved yesterday, and in the past, so many auction houses, while experts in granny's crockery, struggle to accurately identify let alone describe anything sharp and pointy.

I turned up at the auction with a long list of lots I was interested in and was soon crossing them off. First on my list was a WWII Japanese officer's shin gunto, incorrectly described as a Meiji period katana. The gunto was in very poor condition. The blade was terribly (and deeply) scratched. A condition report and additional photos had been requested - by me, and had been posted on the auction website as well as a prominent online auction facilitators site, but the scratches were far more significant than described and were almost indistinguishable on the photographs provided. The tang photographs that I also requested showed a signature however on inspection the blade was clearly machined with an applied hamon. Lastly, the mekugi was missing and had been replaced with a badly carved and ill-fitting piece of wood. None of this was mentioned. In fact the sword was described as being in good condition!  I immediately lost interest in it. As did everyone else in the room. The sword sold to an online bidder for £530 plus buyers fees and delivery costs. Someone has an unpleasant surprise heading their way.
The second lot of interest to me was described as a Victorian Scottish basket hilt. It wasn't. It was a poor replica and not only that, but the scabbard it was photographed with did not even fit the sword! Again, no-one in the room was willing to part with any cash to own it and it sold to an unsuspecting online bidder. Knowing that all requests for additional information and photographs were posted on the auction houses own website as well as on the Saleroom's website, I can say with certainty that the online buyer will have been totally unaware that the scabbard was not correct for the sword or that the sword itself was a copy. 
Not to labour the point but I found a further three fakes within the lots at this auction, all of which sold to online buyers. The buyers of these lots (the fakes) are able to return the items as they were sold as being genuine and not "in the style of," "type" which is usual auction speak for "fake," but first they have to know that they are fake and then they have to return them. They will not get a refund on the delivery or return costs. 

Yesterdays auction was par for the course. It is incumbent on the buyer to satisfy themselves that the items they bid on are correctly described and in good condition - all auction houses have this disclaimer. When bidding online it is very hard to do so. Very often the auction houses themselves are unaware that something is amiss or that damage exceeds the norm and as such these things are not included in requests for additional information and condition reports. Caveat emptor!

So, how did the auction go for me? Very well, I came home with sixteen items, the first two of which I have just added to the site.
It is always better to buy in person from an auction house but if you can't, be very specific about the information you request. Don't just ask for a general condition report.

I will be leaving home at 3.30am again next Thursday to catch a flight from Edinburgh to London. Fingers crossed I will be flying home Thursday night after another successful auction. And yes, as long as the swords are in the hold it is no problem to take them on the plane.