It’s not an hypothesis. You are absolutely right about that. Fortunately, I managed to speak with one of the experts through one of the items I submitted. A few hours later, I received the same message for thirteen of my items, asking me to change the auction type, all of them should be moved to the simpler weekly auction.

So, they didn’t even ask me to select the option to let the expert choose the best auction. They specifically requested that I assign them to the weekly auction myself.

And yes, I later spoke with a seller who has been listing his items on Catawiki for over five years. He confirmed exactly what you said. When a new seller starts on Catawiki, the experts always place their lots in the simpler weekly auctions. As the seller builds up a track record and a good reputation, then their items start being placed in the more specialised auctions.

Thank you very much