: Here's what we have in the first paragraph of the "Terms
: and Conidtions": Unless otherwise indicated, all
: listings will be offered by Antiquorum Direct Bid as agent for
: Consignor. All items are sold AS IS, WHERE IS with all faults.
: There are no warranties or representations of merchantability,
: of fitness, nor of any other kind, express or implied.
: Written and oral descriptions are our opinions and
: should in no way be construed as a guarantee of any kind as to
: authenticity, age, condition, materials or any other feature of
: items being sold. Antiquorum attempts to catalog every lot
: correctly and will attempt to point out any defects but will not
: be responsible or liable for the correctness of the listing or
: other descriptions of the item. We recommend prospective
: bidders to ask all questions before bidding on an item for which
: they have an interest. If you require absolute certainty in all
: areas of authenticity, and the results of your evaluation leave
: uncertainty in your mind, we recommend you have an expert
: examine the lot for you or do not bid on the item in question.
: We do not give refunds! All sales are final! Maybe we need to
: think of it this way: Antiquorum attempts to describe the
: watches, in the cataloging process; there is a limit to how much
: they really can know about these watches or how much research
: they will undertake, given the price range of many of the
: watches that they are offering; the sellers respond to any
: questions that are asked, but DirectBid has no active role in
: this Q and A process. So DirectBid is a platform being used by
: sellers, to auction their watches to buyers . . . just like
: eBay. Antiquorum / DirectBid attempts to describe the watches,
: without any real due diligence . . . which is entirely different
: from the role taken by eBay. I assume that buyers can be certain
: that the watches will be delivered, after they pay . . . another
: advantage over eBay. Maybe I am overly optimistic, but I still
: hope that DirectBid will develop into a useful platform for us.

: Jeff

: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I guess that's what I see as the problem. We all know its "Buyer beware" on eBay. We'd all like to think that a "proper" auction by the likes of Bonham will have been reviewed, catalogued, authenticated, etc....and we pay for that. So what's the point of anything that sits in the middle? OK, they give you a little guidance, but at the end of the day, you're on your own...just like eBay

Plus- and I know we all hate PayPal as a seller- you can't ignore the benefit of PayPal to the buyer.

So, maybe I'm just being negative, but actually there is nothing I see in this platform other than a realisation from a company that its traditional business model has been erroded by a new player...problem is, they're too late.

dc