How long should it take?
 

I finally won a few modest lots recently from an auction house and after waiting two days for an invoice, paid by paypal expecting "immediate" shipment (per the auction rules on their website). On the 6th business day after paying, I received an email saying my package had been shipped.

That's immediate?

My question : Is this normal? How long does it normally take to receive won lots from most auction houses?

That's not bad. I've waited much longer.

Sounds pretty quick... What auction house takes paypal?!

Yeah, sounds pretty quick to me.

Most I've won have taken weeks, and most don't take credit cards and Paypal because it cuts down on their bottom line and they end up waiting for checks to clear.

I even had one auction house call me a month after I won an auction and ask where payment was. I had to dig through my bank records to show them they cashed my check and it had cleared weeks ago.

They apologized and sent the items immediately, but it annoyed me they didn't even know they already had my money.

Seems people these days want stuff yesterday. All I really care about is if my item is authentic, is it what it was described as in the auction, did they hide things from me in the description, and was it packed safely when if was sent to me.

Everything else is extraneous to me...........but I'm probably more patient then others.

I would say thats a very fast turnaround, my normal time to receive winnings is around 3-4 weeks, anything 2 weeks or less is awesome.

Really?
 

I am shocked to read the answers to this question. First, it does seem most auction houses do not accept payppal/cc, so there is additional waiting time for the check to be received. But Huggins and Scott sends cards immedicately once receiving the check. I get upset on ebay when i pay immediately and recieve cards 10 days later...why? I started a post on auction houses and there were tons of responses to the effect "I am willing to pay more to guarantee authenticity and a quip ship"....tell my it takes an additional 6 business day = 2 weeks until delivery? Yes, i am impatient but I pay immediately and fail to understand why it takes so long to send stuff....rant, rant....I as a seller have NEVER shipped more than 24hrs after payment received...jus my opinion though.

Sterling takes paypal.

This from their Auction Terms and Conditions:
"Payments made via Paypal or money order will result in immediate shipment. Payments via check may have items held until funds clear at the discretion of Sterling Sports Auctions"

I'm still very pleased with them, just that the word "immediate" threw me off. Didn't really know what to expect since I hadn't dealt with an auction house before.


Thanks for the replies!

[QUOTE=tonyo;938284]Sterling takes paypal.
QUOTE]

Baggers does too, I've found that both ship very quickly.

I'd give 24-48 hours as being reasonable.

Sterling is in Poughkeepsie. Northeast got hit with a devastating snowstorm the day after their auction. I've still got people around me without power.

I'd be inclined to cut them some slack.

It's still laser fast compared to most auction houses.

love Sterling Auctions

takes Paypal, great opening bids, and shipping time was very reasonable

Sterling and Brian are a class act. I've actually received tracking numbers within hours of payment and almost always goes out that day. Legendary / Goodwin ship immediately upon receiving the check. I can understand holding a check a week or so the first time you receive one from a buyer, but not the 2nd / 3rd, etc. I also love the cheap shipping costs by Sterling / now Gem mint. $12 is amazing.

The word "immediate" is comparative. Most auction houses wait 2-3 weeks if you send them a check, in order for it to clear. If you have sent Sterling a check, you'd most likely have to wait a couple of weeks or so, and in comparison, paying by paypal is "immediate."

I can understand holding a check, especially if the buyer is new or the winnings are in the thousands or more.

I didn't think of the snow storm.
I'll re-iterate that I have no problems with them. In retrospect I didn't interpret "immediate" correctly. I normally associate immediate with "I'll do it right now" (not next week).

I was just curious about the normal process and it sounds like they are one of the better performers.

Hey Tony...I'm in Connecticut and I can vouch for the whole winter storm thing...we didn't have power for a week. I did not receive my Sterling invoice until a few days after the auction closed (Monday or Tuesday)...I paid same day via PP and had cards in hand three days later...

Surely they were impacted as last auction, I had an invoice waiting for me the morning after the auction closed so I'm sure everything was thrown out of whack due to the storm.

Now that's what I call "immediate" - Thanks Matt

Something else to think of. If immediate meant within 24 hours, and they just had 100's of auctions paid the day after via Paypal, they would have to hire several temps to package and mail them.

Do you want temp employees packaging your lots in order to receive them a few days earlier? Plus you would have to pay for them somehow....i.e. higher fees.

No, ......and I'm just having fun being painfully literal now.........., but maybe if he changed the verbiage to " shipped within a week " I wouldn't have been expecting the package in 3 or 4 days.:)

All is well!

Brian is top notch, when Canada post was off for a month he held on to my cards until I gave the thumbs up.

You also have to consider the Brian/Sterling is a different setup than a Legendary or Huggins & Scott. More of a boutique auction. Not sure if he has a day job too or not but I don't think 6 days is completely unwarranted. He's a great guy and, at times, I think we all know that things don't go 100% EVERY day......for any of us........

+1

Well said.

Thanks to all for answering my question. Two weeks between end of auction and receipt of cards is an excellent turn around for auction houses.