in 2017 I discovered thesaleroom.com and the prices were about the same as if you attended the auction in person meaning I was able to buy at dealer prices and take the risk and then sell to people on ebay and other websites where they didn't take any risk as they were protected by EU law and had 14 days cooling off period. 2018 and the prices now are coming in at the price I charge my own customers. (after you add the buyers premium at 27% to 33 % to the hammer price) only I have no protection. With an auction what you get is what you keep even if its garbage. Thats the risk I as a dealer was taking and in return I sold with full return options to my end user at a profit. Seems my own target market is now using thesaleroom.com only they're paying the same money they would pay for retail only without ANY protection normally associated with online retail purchases. Auction houses have a bad reputation some more than others. Thesaleroom.com do not get involved with disputes like eBay would so if and when you have an issue its between you and the auction house NOT you and thesaleroom.com Bottom line many people are flocking here in hopes of getting a deal after the marketing from thesaelroom.com and they think its like eBay in the sense they're protected, but it isn't and they're not so they leave negative reviews because they had not realised what they were getting involved with before they placed their bids The prices have doubled in a year because there are much more bidders now. The auction houses have improved their photos to entice the plentiful amount of potential bidders but you are still taking a risk and because you have next to no buyer protection "because" auction houses are exempt from retail laws.