Alethea
Verified Attorney
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- Sep 21, 2016
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I agree it's unusual for that amount of money. Lots of auctions are now also online - starting with the big houses like Sothebys and Christies. There are a few auction websites like Invaluable where smaller auction houses can use their software to allow online bids.Understood. So, a buyer could easily believe that they were getting real paintings based on the pictures & authentication documentation.
But, I stand by my original comment. I.e., presumably a substantial amount of $ was involved here. And, the buyer(s) had to trust that the seller would be sending them the actual paintings. Though, I understand it would be very inconvenient to buy these in person if you're halfway across the country from someone (or even in another state/city).
Sure - I know people buy things online all of the time without actually knowing for sure that the product/products are what you ordered ahead of time. But, it's evident that in many/most of these cases a lot less $ is involved.
In these online auctions, the pieces are with the auctioneer and the auction house verifies the authenticity, etc. So you can be confident the products are authentic or you get your money back. Ebay does not do anything like that.
Some collectors and art dealers search ebay for steals - sometimes people do not know what they're selling, particularly in less popular areas of art. But with a Warhol? You'd think anyone would be suspicious - why sell for $80,000 when you could get the asking price through a gallery?