Whether it's ignoring customers' emails, or paying consigors late, for whatever reason auction houses and their workers seem to ignore obvious customer service qualities and act like arrogant fools. Well, this lack of service has escalated over the last year or so... Mastro Auctions is no longer, but seems to have taken care of its customers ... Thank god. But it does seem inevitable that there may be one or more auction houses that still will become casualties of this terrible time.
So, what happens to consignors' money that's owed if an auction house gets shut down, or goes bankrupt? The thought of this is scary as hell, but it may become reality for some people... From what I understand, money owed to a consignor seems to be unsecured, and I am not sure the consignor would ever see his/her cash if the auction goes belly up...
Can a lawyer really help a consignor in this time of need? They can sure try, but you can't force somebody to pay money if they can't pay it... Lets face it, there are many people and businesses that are in trouble, but it seems to kind of have an extra burn to it when it has to do with the sports card and memorabilia hobby. At least it does for me.
When the hobby was at its peak, these businesses thought they were at the top of the world. Nobody could break them ... Now, they seem to want pity like everyone else.
The internet has really made most of these auction houses obsolete, in my opinion. It has given traders the opportunity to easily find each other without having to take out expensive ads or pay ridiculous fees to auction houses.