Yogic

Even if I am the Even if I am the only bidder, I will still pay to Amati more than what I would have paid to JP Guivier for buying the same instrument from their website. 5000 bid +1100 commission.

So it means they have nothing to lose.If the auction ends in a sale, they pocket the seller and buyer commission. If the consignor withdraws the item, they recover their cost by charging the consignor.If it does not sell, they No, the buyer pays 22% commission and the final bill to the buyer comes to around 6100.

Of Course I want everyone to see it. The auctioneer has nothing to lose if the item does not sell. But a buyer who bids the instrument to hundreds of pounds higher than what it is being publicly sold for in addition to paying the hefty premium would walk away feeling cheated. And lets also note that if the retail price of JP Guivier is 6000, the actual cost will be much lower for the dealer.An auctioneer should not just be fair to the seller but also the buyer.People come to auctions looking for fair deals but if the auctioneer takes a dealers inventory and posts it for an auction with the bid starting at the retail price offered by the dealer , thats not correct at all. I will now start suspecting if the rest of the items are also similar.

James- You might want your consignors to remove their instruments ads if they are consigning it to you on auction. Else, the auction price will never move. Lot 109 is being sold by JP Guiver on their website for 6000 and has been consigned to Amati with a starting bid for the same price :-)

Can somebody ID if this is a authentic Kloz violin ? It has the Joseph Kloz Mittenwald label

Not authentic

Lot 45: An Interesting Italian Violin, https://www.bromptons.co/auction/1st-11th-december-2020/lots/45-an-interesting-italian-violin-circa-1800.html Any idea what this violin is ?

An authentic Gaetano Antoniazzi cello is in a different league altogether than a Siego labelled cello that the auctioneers have listed as ' attributed' which means they don't believe it was made by Siega. What or how old is this cello would invite various opinions.In such a situation the cello will be valued on its individual characteristics. 770mm is considered long in the trade just like violins that have a length of back of 360mm is considered long and has little demand. You can always bid on it and buy it but if you want to turn around and sell it later its just a spuriously labelled unknown origin cello with a back length that is not preferred.

Back length is 770mm. Many dealers or players would not buy it because they would feel its too long for comfort.

Les Archets Francais| Etien Vatelot | Two volumes; 1 and 2 Indispensable for musicians; collectors and dealers about French Bows. 1024 pages of data; 800 color photos. Fair condition. Text in English; French; German. Paris; Rare. Price:$1500 and free shipping throughout the US except Hawaii & Alaska

Posting a link will take it to a dealer site and any negative commentaries here might impact his business. The question was purely to understand a technique

Maestronet is full of photographs taken from everywhere that includes the internet, auction houses , shops asking opinions and discussing instruments. This is no different

The photos were shared to ask a question regarding finish & not for commercial profit or duplication.There is no stealing

I was looking through the inventory of a dealer and noticed all his instruments have some sort of shine around it. It does not look like french polish and I have attached a picture of a Paul Blanchard in his inventory as an example. Never seen another Blanchard that looks like this. Can some luthier let me know what could be the solution or method he could be using to get his instruments to look like this ?

Any idea what is special about this Violin that it starts with a high estimate and is estimated between $2000-3000? It has a generic Strad label. https://live.skinnerinc.com/lots/view/4-17GBPO/german-violin-markneukirchen-c-1920