Let us know . The other 30 percent, he says, comes from Sotheby's itself. Sotheby's declines to reveal crucial site statistics, such as its number of registered users or percent of lots sold, but the firm does release its sales figures. Wall Street is evidently not convinced. Meanwhile, eBay, an early favorite of Wall Street, has proved that it can attract the buyers and sellers to perform a volume business selling all kinds of goods.
Recent figures are also strong.
Although, without an established dealer or auction house to help sellers reach qualified buyers, prices may not go quite as high. Then there's the issue of authenticity, a minefield that threatens eBay's laissez-faire model of business. A leading Santa Fe dealer relates that nearly 90 percent of the Native American material he sees on eBay is misattributed or fake. May. eBay invalidated the sale after learning that the seller was guilty of shill bidding, or manipulating the bidding in his own auction.