Increases in compensation may be offset by higher labor productivity or absorbed at least for a time by a narrowing of firms' profit margins rather than passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices.
In such cases, always extract meaningful compensation from these Pilot customers to offset your costs and to increase the likelihood that the Pilot user will convert to a paying customer.
This improvement is principally due to higher auction and private sale commission revenues, partially offset by an increase in operating expenses that is due, in part, to higher incentive compensation costs, a higher level of direct costs consistent with the volume and composition of auction sales, and the cost of investments in strategic initiatives.