Auction bidder nightmares

[Snapolit1]

Seems like 99% of the bitching here (myself included of course) is customers detailing issues with AHs. Big and small. I was wondering if anyone who runs auctions here (Al,Jeff,Scott) could give us a feel for how much nonsense they have to put up with in a typical auction. How many no shows and non payments? How much buyers remorse? How many attempted returns? How much pleading to cancel sales. I think it would be interesting to see the other side of the coin. Sure there is more than a fair share of hijinks and aggravation to go around.

[Fballguy]

Not what you're asking for but this has been my AH experience so far as bidder...all of which has occurred in the last year....and maybe 7-8 transactions total. The names have been changed to protect the guilty.

AH #1 sold me an $1800 pennant that they failed to disclose had a tip held on by tape. Then after lying to me for a week, proceeded to lecture me for posting about the experience here.

AH #2 decided to make an origami swan out of a rare New York Titans pennant I won so they could cram it in the smallest bubble mailer they could find...damaging the painted on graphics to the point they chipped off.

AH #3 sold me a pennant describe as Near Mint that really had an inch long rip in the top edge

AH #4 Notified me after the win that one of the pennants I won had been chewed through by a mouse and asked if I still wanted it.

For these experiences I have to pay a premium? Are you kidding?

These are true stories. I think the only positive experiences I've had so far been with Huggins & Scott, twice.....and Clean Sweep once....though Clean Sweep holding my check (which is the only payment method they accept) for two weeks so it can "clear" seems a little 1950's-ish.

So this I why I say...Mediocrity appears to be standard operating procedure in this industry. But the bidders don't seem to care.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Rob you have to switch to cards. No mice have eaten a slab yet.

[Fballguy]

Rob you have to switch to cards. No mice have eaten a slab yet.

Funny you say that...See my last post in the Heritage thread. I'm already coming around to that line of thinking. ;)

[ullmandds]

Moral of the story...shipping penants is a bitch!!

[sb1]

Actually very little problems with any of the above. In 10+ years, less than a handful of no pays, all very small items, and all were banned from bidding.

During the course of the auction there are usually a few questions on lots and people needing to reset passwords as they can't log in, all of which are part of the job and easy to handle.

While I try to describe every lot accurately, there is always the missed wrinkle or large group with condition that might not match the exact percentages. These are few and far between, I believe I can recall only one return and a handful of adjustments in the entire decade.

The real surprise for those that think anyone can do this, is the need to constantly find material for 500-700 lot auctions and the mammoth task of sorting and shipping all of the winning items. I can't imagine doing 2000+ like the big AH's but I don't have any help either, this does put me at a disadvantage as some people, especially ones that use ebay, expect their winnings almost instantaneously. It takes time to find all of the lots and package them correctly.

Scott

[drcy]

I know, and appreciate, how much time it takes to handle a huge number lot auction. I don't run auctions, but was hired to authenticate and write the descriptions for an auction house's specialty auction-- the material was out of their experience so they hired me. I can't remember the number of lots, but, for easy sake, let's say it was 1000. I remember in the middle of the work me calculating that if I took an extra ten seconds per lot that was an additional nearly 3 hours of work. If I took an extra half a minute, that would add a full day's work.

So I understand and appreciate that writing/producing doing the catalog, packaging and shipping the lots after the auction is no mere trifle.

And, FYI, the auction house's instructions for me were (paraphrasing) "Make sure the items are accurately identified and described because we don't want returns."

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

being primarily a live only auction we have very few problems like the ones you mentioned. Since we guarantee all our cards to grade and our autographs to pass returns are zero (if you take us up on the guarantee we submit for you). Honestly I've had a couple of difficult consignors who sign stuff over to me and then want to change their minds or their terms but that's by far the exception not the rule. Of course I would argue that my buyers likewise would have very few negative experiences with me.

I know I'm probably not the Scott you were referring to, but since N54 absentee bidding ends for my Tuesday auction tomorrow night I thought I'd get a plug in! :)

[Fballguy]

Moral of the story...shipping penants is a bitch!!

So is quality control apparently.

[perezfan]

Moral of the story...shipping penants is a bitch!!

Actually only 1 out of the 4 scenarios Rob described were "shipping" related. The other 3 were just lazy/negligent/irresponsible write-ups. And the person who shipped the Titans Pennant should've been fired on the spot. Even the most naïve person would know not to mutilate a $300 pennant like that.

My experience has been far better with the auction houses. Most (if not all)know how ship pennants. I won't bore everyone with the proper procedure, but suffice it to say it is NOT rocket science.

[calvindog]

Not what you're asking for but this has been my AH experience so far as bidder...all of which has occurred in the last year....and maybe 7-8 transactions total. The names have been changed to protect the guilty.

AH #1 sold me an $1800 pennant that they failed to disclose had a tip held on by tape. Then after lying to me for a week, proceeded to lecture me for posting about the experience here.

AH #2 decided to make an origami swan out of a rare New York Titans pennant I won so they could cram it in the smallest bubble mailer they could find...damaging the painted on graphics to the point they chipped off.

AH #3 sold me a pennant describe as Near Mint that really had an inch long rip in the top edge

AH #4 Notified me after the win that one of the pennants I won had been chewed through by a mouse and asked if I still wanted it.

For these experiences I have to pay a premium? Are you kidding?

These are true stories. I think the only positive experiences I've had so far been with Huggins & Scott, twice.....and Clean Sweep once....though Clean Sweep holding my check (which is the only payment method they accept) for two weeks so it can "clear" seems a little 1950's-ish.

So this I why I say...Mediocrity appears to be standard operating procedure in this industry. But the bidders don't seem to care.

These stories are stomach-churning. Care to tell us which AH is responsible for each?

[Leon]

The lion's share of auction houses do a good job. When I was part of a small one the biggest thing was probably getting the payments in to get the consignors paid quickly. And also don't forget to ship quickly, which easily the most important thing discussed on the forum.


Actually only 1 out of the 4 scenarios Rob described were "shipping" related. The other 3 were just lazy/negligent/irresponsible write-ups. And the person who shipped the Titans Pennant should've been fired on the spot. Even the most naïve person would know not to mutilate a $300 pennant like that.

My experience has been far better with the auction houses. Most (if not all)know how ship pennants. I won't bore everyone with the proper procedure, but suffice it to say it is NOT rocket science.

[Gary Dunaier]

These are all interesting stories, but I think the original poster was asking for horror stories from the auction houses' viewpoint.

. . . . . I was wondering if anyone who runs auctions here (Al,Jeff,Scott) could give us a feel for how much nonsense they have to put up with in a typical auction . . . . . I think it would be interesting to see the other side of the coin . . . . .