Dig, I believe I can speak for many here, your reply is seemingly well thought out and completely consistent with what we would have expected from you, based on reading your past posts and your excellent writings in DGJ of your UK auction experiences. Nicely put.
Collectors here are quite accustomed to paying "buyer premiums" on their bids. That is not an issue. The issue of collecting a state sales tax on an out of state sale is a problem. You may not have that situation in the UK. We do object to that. We also object to a couple of the statements in Charlton Hall's fine print that are not at all consistent with other firearms auction houses. I have bought by absentee bid for several years from at least four national auction houses, none of them have those very odd "disclaimers."
There are a number of auction houses in the US that do a most excellent job with their offerings. I guess most of use just expected this one would perform in a similar manner. The post above from Dave K explains our problem with George L. I am still planning on attending, unless something unforseen comes up. I'll clarify the point concerning collecting out of state sales tax on absentee bids while there, that's just not done. Your business of offering first hand inspection reports may be a good thing for many, but it's a bit uncommon here. Not to say it's not a good idea, particularly for inexperienced buyers, but it's new here as far as I am aware. I'll bet it would catch on here with a good team of state-side "inspectors" in your employ. Charlton Hall's policy stating "Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to inspect each lot yourself or have your agent do so on your behalf. Prospective buyers should satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Charlton Hall Galleries, Inc., or its employees is merely a subjective qualified opinion, " stinks. We don't expect them to be professional conservators or restorers, we do expect them to be professional auctioneers, experienced in the sale of sporting arms, and I think that's the bottom line here, they apparently aren't particularly experienced in this field.
You may want to spread your US auction efforts around and not deal only with one auction house. There are others who are very well established in the collector community nationwide and do an excellent job. Perhaps Charlton Hall can learn from all this and be better. Folk who buy oriental rugs, old oil paintingss, and jewelry and such may have a completely different set of expectations than do we gun nuts.
