In less than a decade the common perception of auctions has changed dramatically. Auctions used to be reserved mostly for the wealthy, but now much of the world’s auctioneering happens on eBay, managed by a computer. An auction is the purest way to sell an item, for the person who values the item the most typically wins. It’s quite democratic that the luxury of this form of sale has been brought to the masses, but much of the culture and tradition associated with auctions has been lost in translation. Luckily, auction houses like Christie’s have adapted to the online world while maintaining their auras of international glamour. Founded in 1766, Christie’s is now the “world’s leading art business with global auction sales in 2007 that totaled $6.3 billion.”
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