I agree that the appearance of Deep Pockets tends to attract more attention, both good and bad, so the fact that Heritage is nearly 250X the size of Bruce's little operation (this year alone) means they have a much bigger target on their back.
While Grey certainly can't be expected to police the entirety of Heritage and it's departments, I believe it speaks volumes that in the seven years they have been dealing posters they have already nearly equaled Bruce's twenty years worth of sales but I have never heard of a single lawsuit or threat of one, nor have I heard of them not paying a consignor nor any other complaints (perhaps aside from their "outrageous" buyer's premium, or the occasional misdescription just like Bruce, Cinemasterpieces or any other volume seller is apt to do). Despite Bruce's constant attacks on Heritage, when Bruce wanted to see an example of one of the fake Universal Horror posters, Grey immediately stepped up and not only provided him with multiple examples, he even declined Bruce's $100 "bounty" for them. It is also interesting that in the article Bruce posted, Heritage is taking the proactive approach of refunding customers and going after the bad guys themselves, NOT telling their customers that they don't have any liability for the fakes. So I guess we can definitely wipe Heritage off the list of auction houses that Bruce has been hinting do this practice. Now if only he would finally tell us who that auction house (or houses) is, so that we can avoid them in the future. I guess fear tactics work better when there are multiple nameless targets or "everyone else but me" rather than naming any specifics. ----- Original Message ----- From: Bruce Hershenson To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, September 20, 2009 3:49 PM Subject: Re: [MOPO] Big auction houses normal or not normal? I only do $3 million a year which is a pittance compared to the $700 million Heritage does (but is that with or without N.P. Gresham's purchases?), but in 20 years I have never had a lawsuit or court case, either against me or initiated by me. I wonder if that means I am doing something wrong? Maybe if I want to become one of the "big boys" I need to change the way I do business? Bruce On Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 2:43 PM, Simon Oram <[email protected]> wrote: I was just wondering is it normal for big auction houses to have multiple lawsuits or court cases going on at the same time - is it also part of the normal days work at the big houses to be accusing and have accusers? Simon Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
