In this article, we present our analysis of how one of Belgium’s largest auction houses has creatively dealt with the forced transition to online auctions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on in-depth qualitative interviews and participant observation conducted at Bernaerts Auctioneers in Antwerp over a period of three months between February and April 2021, we show how the auction house has succeeded at maintaining relations with its clients and the public while exclusively moving its sales online. Our specific focus was on the mediation of expertise. Drawing on recent publications from the fields of economic sociology and anthropology, we analyzed how expert narratives of origin, authenticity, and uniqueness are communicated online to affect an object’s auction value. Based on our empirical research, which also includes narrative analyses of Bernaerts Auctioneers’ internet publication Prelude, as well as content shared online via social media, we argue that expert knowledge and practices of expertise are resilient and—contrary to what neoclassical economic theory might suggest—that they continue to be central to negotiations of value, as well as in online auctions.

中文翻译：

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在比利时进行更好的在线竞标：COVID-19 大流行期间拍卖行专业知识的价值

在本文中，我们分析了比利时最大的拍卖行之一如何创造性地应对 COVID-19 大流行期间强制过渡到在线拍卖的问题。基于在 2021 年 2 月至 2021 年 4 月期间在安特卫普 Bernaerts Auctioneers 进行的为期三个月的深入定性访谈和参与者观察，我们展示了拍卖行如何成功地保持与客户和公众的关系，同时专门转移其销售在线的。我们特别关注专业知识的调解。我们利用经济社会学和人类学领域的最新出版物，分析了专家对起源、真实性和独特性的叙述如何在网上传播以影响物品的拍卖价值。根据我们的实证研究，Prelude以及通过社交媒体在线共享的内容，我们认为专业知识和专业实践具有弹性，并且与新古典经济理论可能暗示的相反——它们仍然是价值谈判以及在线谈判的核心拍卖。