The company and its archrival Christie's are at the center of a criminal investigation of a possible conspiracy to fix the commissions they charge buyers and sellers.

The Justice Department's three-year-old inquiry centers on accusations that the world's most powerful auction houses conspired as far back as 1991 to fix the fees they charge buyers and sellers.

The fees both houses will charge buyers differs.

Their departure came as the company and its archrival, Christie's, were accused of colluding to fix the commissions charged buyers and sellers.

For example, GynoPharma sells the ParaGard IUD to public clients for $80, while charging private buyers about $160.

The experts also say that the two houses have even promised sellers a percentage - as much as 7 percent - of the once untouchable fees they charge buyers.

A price discrimination strategy is to charge less price sensitive buyers a higher price and the more price sensitive buyers a lower price.

A newspaper doesn't charge buyers more when they throw away everything but the sports section.

The Mets charge sellers a 10 percent fee on the ticket price and buyers 11 percent.

Brokerage firms, for technical reasons, often charge initial buyers of new stock offerings below-market rates.