Home Trading Cards & Memorabilia Forum

A friendly email to those who didnt know

In case anyone didnt receive this email, this will serve as a friendly update on Mastros auction practices.

I guess you can call it a public service announcement:

Mastro Auctions

Code of Professional Conduct

1. Disclosure of Ownership

Mastro Auctions allows employees, authenticators, the Mastro Auctions corporate entity and other third party affiliates to own and consign items in Mastro Auctions’ sales. Mastro Auctions will disclose in its catalogs which items are owned by any of the aforementioned parties. PLEASE NOTE: The definition of ownership extends to spouses and immediate family members associated with the aforementioned groups.

2. Mastro Auctions Employee Bidding Rules

Certain Mastro Auctions employees are also collectors, and, similar to the practices followed by other major auction houses (e.g. Sotheby’s, Christies, etc.) are permitted to bid in Mastro Auctions sales. The following restrictions have been placed on the bidding practices of employee(s) to ensure fairness for all auction participants: · Mastro Auctions employees do not have access to ceiling or “top-all” bids. One designated administrative employee will have access to this information for the sole purpose of responding to bidding questions or for correcting bid errors. That designated individual will not be allowed to bid in the auction. · Mastro Auctions employees, the Mastro Auctions corporate entity, and all third party affiliates (authenticators, service providers, etc.) are considered related parties. These related parties are prohibited from bidding on each other’s consigned items. PLEASE NOTE: The definition of the Mastro Auctions “related parties” extends to family members.

3. Disclosure of Restoration

If Mastro Auctions believes or has knowledge that an item has been altered in any way, this information will be fully disclosed in the auction catalog. Occasionally, we will have items restored in order to improve their presentation quality. In these cases, the extent and nature of any restoration will be fully disclosed. Under no circumstances will we have restoration work done on trading cards.

4. Trading Card Guidelines

Mastro Auctions prohibits its employees from altering trading cards. Our policy on altering trading cards is in strict compliance with standards set by all major grading companies.

5. Use of Third Party Authenticators

Mastro Auctions is a company of experts. In almost all of the collecting genres handled by the company, there is an employee on staff who specializes in that area. As a result, before an item ever reaches a third party authenticator, it must first pass our scrutiny. Once an item that requires third party authentication has been accepted by Mastro Auctions, the following process will be employed: for each auction, the catalog will identify approved third party authenticating sources by category. We will not sell an item unless it has been authenticated by one of the listed third party authenticators.

6. Bidding Records

Effective for auctions held in 2007, all Mastro Auctions bidding records are maintained into perpetuity. These records are considered private and confidential. In order to maintain the privacy of our customers’ information, these records will not be voluntarily shared with any third parties.

Comments



  • << <i>
    3. Disclosure of Restoration

    If Mastro Auctions believes or has knowledge that an item has been altered in any way, this information will be fully disclosed in the auction catalog. Occasionally, we will have items restored in order to improve their presentation quality. In these cases, the extent and nature of any restoration will be fully disclosed. Under no circumstances will we have restoration work done on trading cards.

    4. Trading Card Guidelines

    Mastro Auctions prohibits its employees from altering trading cards. Our policy on altering trading cards is in strict compliance with standards set by all major grading companies.

    q]


    When did they make these changes?
  • liars
  • I knew that the employees would never alter cards and always thought that was a line of BS.














    They have their friends do it....
  • jayhawkejayhawke Posts: 1,325 ✭✭✭
    Wow, I feel so much better now that they have disclosed their back room policies and now everything is square. They now need to disclose during an auction if a Mastro Auctions employee, the Mastro Auctions corporate entity, and all third party affiliates (authenticators, service providers, etc.) and family members have bid on an auction. It would be a big step towards some credibility.
Sign In or Register to comment.