# art market

Priced to Prey: How Staged 'Auctions' Are Extracting Millions from China's Small-Time Collectors

Scammers posing as auction houses and foreign buyers are targeting ordinary Chinese collectors with high-pressure valuations and demands for seller-side guarantee deposits. They stage “private” or overseas sales, employ fake bidders, then declare lots unsold and withhold deposits under contractual pretexts. The fraud exploits information asymmetries in the antiques market, weak cross-border enforcement and social stigma that keeps victims silent.