Why it costs the house money
The category is where most buyers start. A taxidermy collector filters to taxidermy. A stamp collector filters to stamps. A lot filed somewhere else never reaches the people most likely to bid it up.
Fewer of the right bidders means a lower final price, and every fee in the sale is a percentage of that price.
The three findings from this screen
- 01CategoryA taxidermy armadillo, filed under Rocks, Minerals & Fossils.
- 02CategoryIn the same sale, a stamp album holding thousands of stamps, filed on a Postcards path.
- 03MarkIn another sale, an eyeglasses case with hand-painted lettering, plain in the photo and missing from the listing.
Each finding was checked against the lot's own photos and listing, then read again in a separate review before it counted. A mark too small or worn to read is reported as unreadable, never guessed.
The fix
None of this needs a specialist. It needs someone to look at every photo of every lot before the sale goes live, and to move two lots to the category their buyers actually filter by.