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Edward_ Winkleman – Controversial new buyers premium

[Sotheby’s] will levy a charge on each bidder based on how many times they raise their paddle during any session. The auction argues this is designed to self-police the controversial practice known as “chandelier bidding” (the auctioneer practice of calling out non-existent bids as though they were placed). It sounds like PR spin to me. How would this policy do anything to curtail that practice? If nobody worried those non-existent bids were being attributed to them before, why should they start now?