some comments i read today by SCD's chris nerat regarding lampson/authenticators/auction houses:
"Many auctions hire authenticators for only a couple days and they are expected to go through hundreds of pieces....Now, I know some of you will say that the authenticators should be brought in for a longer period of time… That sounds like a good idea, in theory, but it isn’t that realistic. First of all, that costs much more money for the auction house.."
apparently it's not realistic for an auction house to spend more money to ensure a higher rate of authentic items. apparently it's more cost-effective to lose customers instead.
"..and second of all, there are deadlines to get the catalogs prepared."
chris, i'm going make a suggestion here. now the last 2 companies i worked at grossed close to $6 billion in annual revenue combined so i may not have the business acumen and process experience that's clearly present in so many auction houses today but hear me out nonetheless.
extend either the consignment deadline or the catalog production deadline.
the notion that catalog deadlines are written in stone and they should drive the entire authentication process is nonsensical.
chris, even going by your ideas, ultimately it's the authenticators choice to accept or reject the job. lampson knows exactly how much he can do in a day and if he knows the auction houses exceed that amount, then please explain to me why he accepts the contracts anyway. please explain to me why lampson constantly sets himself up for failure by deliberately taking on more than he can accurately handle.
if an auction house told me that i have 5 days to get through 600 items, then how big of an idiot would i have to be to sign that contract when i know i can't do it accurately?
furthermore, how big of an idiot would i be to then blame the tight schedules that i agreed to? is someone forcing lou to sign these contracts?
rudy.
"Many auctions hire authenticators for only a couple days and they are expected to go through hundreds of pieces....Now, I know some of you will say that the authenticators should be brought in for a longer period of time… That sounds like a good idea, in theory, but it isn’t that realistic. First of all, that costs much more money for the auction house.."
apparently it's not realistic for an auction house to spend more money to ensure a higher rate of authentic items. apparently it's more cost-effective to lose customers instead.
"..and second of all, there are deadlines to get the catalogs prepared."
chris, i'm going make a suggestion here. now the last 2 companies i worked at grossed close to $6 billion in annual revenue combined so i may not have the business acumen and process experience that's clearly present in so many auction houses today but hear me out nonetheless.
extend either the consignment deadline or the catalog production deadline.
the notion that catalog deadlines are written in stone and they should drive the entire authentication process is nonsensical.
chris, even going by your ideas, ultimately it's the authenticators choice to accept or reject the job. lampson knows exactly how much he can do in a day and if he knows the auction houses exceed that amount, then please explain to me why he accepts the contracts anyway. please explain to me why lampson constantly sets himself up for failure by deliberately taking on more than he can accurately handle.
if an auction house told me that i have 5 days to get through 600 items, then how big of an idiot would i have to be to sign that contract when i know i can't do it accurately?
furthermore, how big of an idiot would i be to then blame the tight schedules that i agreed to? is someone forcing lou to sign these contracts?
rudy.
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