Dear Lee,

We often get questions from readers who want to bid in online auctions. Our advice:

• You want to be able to trust the auction gallery. Check with dealers, collectors and social media to learn the gallery’s history. Find out how long it has been in business, search for information online and contact the local Better Business Bureau.
• You have to trust the auction employees who place pre-auction bids as well as phone and online bids during the auction. And the auctioneer who calls the bids must be trusted, too. Early bids are placed like called bids during the auction, one jump at a time until the maximum is reached. You might get the item for less than your highest bid.
• Be sure you understand all the add-on fees—extra percentages for bidding online or using a credit card, buyer’s premium, sales tax and shipping costs.
• Talk to auction employees before you place your first bid. They can tell you more about the items you’re interested in, adding to the catalog descriptions and warning you about changes.

Even after you do all your research and take lots of care in placing your bids, you may encounter problems you didn’t expect. Readers have warned us about well-advertised auctions that are “fudging” catalog descriptions. Restoration of pieces like advertising signs and folk art, even repairs to pottery and glass, can be so well done they are almost undetectable.

We know about a reverse painting on glass on which part of the paint had flaked off. The owner sent the painting to auction with a report of the restored paint. The auction catalog gave no mention of a restoration. A caller asking about possible repairs was told that “the painting came to us in the present condition.” It wasn’t a lie—but it wasn’t the whole truth.

Here’s another case: A collector we know saw an advertising sign online valued at over $2,000 and called to ask if it had been restored. The person who answered the phone described the sign and cleverly ignored the question. The collector did not bid.

Over the years, we have found that “antiques people” rarely lie—but a few will omit known condition problems. Most repairs look perfect at first, but with time they can discolor and become obvious.

The rule is “buyer beware” at any sale of antiques and collectibles, so study well before you buy.