Lanny:

Lots to consider and discuss in your message. I am in the middle of a busy day at the office, but wanted to point out that the reason that this thread has over 2,000 views is that it got picked up by Hodinkee, here -- http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/2012/5/9/attention-readers-this-weekend-is-a-great-opportunity-to-buy.html

I am friendly with the folks at Bonhams, and was happy to give the auction a bit of support. I understand that we will all do better, as bidders, if we don't spread the word about the auctions. Still, as a wanna be / amateur / pretend journalist, I am inclined to put out these sorts of notices, as they may be beneficial to our readers. There is an inherent conflict of interest, that all journalists / bloggers / forum participants face. My quick inclination -- more information is always better.

And by the way, I plan to bid at the Bonhams auction, but still feel OK about publicizing the auction. So attention readers, please stay away from Lot Number [??].

Jeff

++++++++++++++++++++++++

: I'll speak for myself - I personally cringed (and probably cursed
: under my breath ) when i saw your post and the 700+ views that
: it garnered.

: Sole reason is that I hope to participate in an auction that
: relatively few people know about and garner a good deal.

: My assumption is that for active participants on this
: forum - we know of all the upcoming auctions, and when a post
: announcing all the upcoming auctions is put out - my guess is
: that my competition for any piece that i as a collector may have
: wanted to own has now quadrupled - now i am bidding against
: dealers, middlemen, and other people that probably would not
: have known otherwise.

: If I was a person with a huge collection - economically i would be
: motivated to makes sure every auction had maximum exposure and
: liquidity - this drices prices up, as for myself (someone who is
: building their collection) - it is exactly the opposite.