is it just me....figuring in BP's on other transactions?

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Posted By: leon

Since there has been quite a bit of talk about auction house buyer premiums (BP's)lately I have been more in tune thinking about those as I do deals on ebay, on the BST, and personally. In other words if someone wants $1000 for something I immediately think to myself (that would be $1200 at auction for me to buy)....does anyone else find themselves doing that, or is it just my way of thinking? It starts making some other venues look like better deals, sometimes. Of course when the auction houses have extremely scarce and desirable stuff they will still command the high prices..FYI, I am still high on a few Mastro lots too so I am not meaning anything derogatory by this post.........regards

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Posted By: MVSNYC

you are not alone...that is the way i think too, you have to...BUT, you could actually look at it this way too, the $1000 piece could be $833 plus the juice (to bring you to $1000)...if i am bidding in an auction like mastro's...i will determine ahead of time, what i think a piece is worth and how much i am willing to pay (TOTAL, including the juice), and i bid accordingly...

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Posted By: Joe D.

I don't give the buyer's premium consideration when I am bidding in an auction. I consider it my "toll" or fee to be allowed to bid.
Its not too bright I know, but I usually bid the item up to what I am willing to go and then just close my eyes to the buyer's premium. Auction houses should love people like me.

When looking to buy something from a collector... I have always been told the price w/juice of a recent sale - and that total became the basis of valuation. Thats how the seller looks at any way - no matter how I try to argue otherwise

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Posted By: T206Collector

[I don't give the buyer's premium consideration when I am bidding in an auction. I consider it my "toll" or fee to be allowed to bid.
Its not too bright I know, but I usually bid the item up to what I am willing to go and then just close my eyes to the buyer's premium. Auction houses should love people like me.]

This is a principal reason I keep away from auction houses. This kind of thinking means that not only are you going to have to overbid to win auctions, but also that sales prices are artificially inflated by the BP.

For the same reason, I assume a number of bidders don't factor in shipping charges on ebay auctions.

It's obvious this kind of stuff goes on, but it is frustrating to read about it because it means you'd have to overbid to win.

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Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

I think about the BP and do as indicated earlier. I'll figure out what I want to pay (total), figure out the max amount (including BP) and that's as far as I'm willing to go. If I win, great. If I don't then that means someone else wanted it more than me (which is usually the case).

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Posted By: anthony

i think the buyer's premium is a "crock"...i think it should be put on the seller, but thats just me. i always consider the bp or shipping/insurance when i bid...and just weigh it as "do i really want to spend that much?"

i personally think that the bp should be a set fee rather than a percentage if there must be a bp. say...$1-$1000 = $50, $1001-$2000 = $100, etc...

as for the b/s/t, (dont take this personally) i think that some people add their own "buyer's premium" into their asking price. just going through a few posts this week the prices seem to be higher on the b/s/t than on either ebay or t206.net (for t206s)...if i want the card bad enough, i'll pay it.

when in doubt, keep it!

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Posted By: Jason L

Yes, you should factor all costs into the price, BPs, shipping, insurance, etc...I even factor in an amount that quantifies my comfort level with the seller and the scan quality to cover the fact that I cannot see the physical item personally before I buy it...
I got burned (held to the deal, because it was the agreement) when I didn't pay attention and had to pay $7.00 shipping on a $40 card that had terrible registration that I assumed was just a poor scan...live and learn

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Posted By: barrysloate

I just look at the total cost of the lot and the BP becomes irrelevant. There is no difference between bidding $1000 on ebay or $800 on the same thing in Mastro as you will be in the same place at the end (which is usually losing the lot to someone else).

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Posted By: Jeffrey Lichtman

I don't factor in the BP; I consider it my duty to enable auction houses to run a first-class operation, send me DVDs explaining why they are a first-class operation, and to allow for packing materials to repeatedly state the name of said first-class operation.

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Posted By: MVSNYC

wow, no wonder why the big auction houses make a killing (and also why i get outbid so often)...because there seems to be many of you who do not facotr in the BP into your bidding strategy...very interesting...

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Posted By: leon

Nice one...... More to the topic of the BST pages having high prices I think that happens as sometimes folks are fishing to sell for a certain price but if they don't get it then they just keep it. It's free so why not? If it's a good deal in whomever's mind then it will sell, if not, it won't. I have listed things over there for a price that didn't sell...put them on ebay, and I get more than I was asking. I have also asked more for them over there than I have gotten on ebay. One of the nicest features of our BST pages is the cost associated .....

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Posted By: barrysloate

Jeff- I see you were as impressed as I was with that DVD. An infomercial if ever I saw one. I couldn't find the part about ironing out creases- did I just miss it?

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Posted By: Elliot

Barry, if you play the DVD at half speed in reverse a ghostly image appears holding a Q-tip and a spoon.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Elliot- you mean like in "I buried Paul..". That kind of thing?

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Posted By: Steve M.

If I am willing to pay $1,200 for an auction item that carries a 20% BP I will only bid $1,000 period.

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Barry, I would say that my mouth was agape for the 90 seconds or so of it I played. I attempted to sell it back to them, along with the remnants of the packing tape, for the $75 I paid for a prior catalogue to enable them to run a "first class operation", but, alas, they were not impressed. They informed me that if I didn't shut my trap my BP would go up to 100% at the conclusion of the auction.

Leon, I don't disagree about the BST listings for the most part; I think it is somewhat annoying, however, when you see a listing with a price that is like 150% more than what the same card in the same condition sold for like 3 days ago on ebay. Sort of the same feeling as seeing Levi's But it Now listings on ebay, you know, the 55 Snider PSA 8 card for 5K that just sold an hour ago on ebay for 3K?

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Posted By: Joe D.

If an item is way up there in price... I am sure I would factor in the BP in my willingness to bid.

I would say an item up to $2500, I probably don't factor it in.

between tolls and gas, there was an expense to go that philly show... but I didn't let that weigh into my decision making for any card I looked at to buy. Thats sort of the best analogy I could give for a card of $2,500 or less. The BP is my tolls and gas.


Now, a lot that goes for say 5 to 10 grand or higher... I am most definitely going to consider the BP when bidding.

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Posted By: leon

I figured I just paid about $4400 for this if it was in a major auction.....

http://cgi.ebay.com/1910-E221-Bishop-Company-San-Francisco-PCL-Team-RARE_W0QQitemZ280056162875QQihZ018QQcategoryZ13303 5QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item28 0056162875

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Posted By: Steve M.

Nice snag. Should have ocurred to me to check "Minor" league listings but oh well. My

BTW, had it also been listed in other catagories it would probably have brought more.

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Posted By: Clint

Leon, that's awesome! How many different of these did they make? I notice you have a similiar one on your site. Is that Buck Weaver also?

Clint

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Posted By: leon

I believe there were 6 different teams made (not at home and this is from memory) and each came in a variety of about 5 different colors, including sepia...so a complete master set might be about 30 cards, including all colors. I believe Buck would only be on the San Francisco one.....regards

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Posted By: Steve M.

Weaver's on the far left. Unless I'm mistaken the sixth team, Sacramento, was never issued.