The first item up for auction was a classical tea set from the last century, said to be one of a kind.

With a starting price of 100,000, Vanessa thought it was reasonable.

A middle-aged man next to her raised the bid to 150,000, and his assistant quickly lifted the bid card.

On the other side, the bids kept climbing, reaching 200,000, which intrigued Vanessa even more about this industry.

The auctioneer began calling: “200,000, going once… going twice… sold!”

With the final hammer ...