AH's at 20%

[packs]

Wait, I've never consigned to an AH before, but there are houses that also charge a consignor fee on top of a buyer fee? I thought the buyer fee was the takeaway for them?

So there are houses that charge the buyer for buying and the seller for selling?

[t206hound]

Originally Posted by packs

Wait, I've never consigned to an AH before, but there are houses that also charge a consignor fee on top of a buyer fee? I thought the buyer fee was the takeaway for them?

So there are houses that charge the buyer for buying and the seller for selling?

absolutely... AH take will generally be 15-25%. Sometimes it's all from the buyer, sometimes there's some from both the buyer and consignor.

[packs]

I knew about the buyer fee, but a selling fee on top of a buyer fee seems absurd. From a seller perspective the house is already taking their cut with the buyer's fee. Why would I be held to a fee for generating the house money?

I realize the house is making me money, but that is the trade off. You get yours, I get mine. Now you want yours and mine too? No way.

[glchen]

Originally Posted by packs

I knew about the buyer fee, but a selling fee on top of a buyer fee seems absurd. From a seller perspective the house is already taking their cut with the buyer's fee. Why would I be held to a fee for generating the house money?

I realize the house is making me money, but that is the trade off. You get yours, I get mine. Now you want yours and mine too? No way.

It does seem obscene, I agree. When I was originally shopping for an auction house to sell some of my stuff, I was amazed how many auction houses had something like a 20% sellers fee on top of the 20% buyers premium. That's a huge take. However, there are a number of auction houses that offer 0% seller's commission or even better. I think Goodwin and B-L have standard 0% seller's commission, and there are some other AH's that also have 0. Some others like Mile High and Greg Bussineau, I believe, offer 0% seller's commission and even give you some of the BP back if your lots sell for a certain value. I've never used them before, so I can't vouch for them. The AH's that charge seller's commission typically say that they have more advertising or a better client list so that they think they can sell your stuff for a higher price than the ones that have lower commission. It's up to you to do your homework and make your best judgment there.

[darwinbulldog]

I have cards up in two of the auctions this month. These are the first two cards I've ever consigned. In each case my cut will be 95% of hammer, and the BP is 20%. If we ignore shipping charges then, I'll be getting, for example, $950 out of $1200 paid by the buyer, which works out to just over 79%. So was that a good choice for me? Honestly I don't know yet, but it seemed likely enough that I was willing to take the chance. There was one auction house (not running an auction this month) that never returned my emails or calls, so they missed out on my business.

When I go the eBay route, once you factor in the Paypal cut I'm left with about 90% of the hammer price, (there's also the time and effort and expense of shipping, but that's the same whether I'm mailing to a buyer or an AH) so from one perspective I'm costing myself 11% of the total value of the cards, which seems like a bad idea, but I think there's a decent chance that the 15 minute rule could yield a significantly higher sale price for at least one of my cards than the usual eBay set-your-snipes-and-check-back-on-Sunday-night model would. I also saved on grading because one of my cards was raw (until a month ago) and got in as part of a bulk submission from the auction house. And then of course...

Not having to deal with eBay: Priceless

[Exhibitman]

Most AH's will negotiate a 0% commission to the seller, especially for slabbed cards. The BP is where they make their money. eBay's rake when paypal is factored in is about 13% for the casual seller, and that includes a final value fee and paypal fee on shipping costs. So, if I have a $100 slabbed card to sell I can either pay $13 to eBay and co., with the 'pleasure' of dealing with the general public and fulfilling the sale myself, or I can consign it to an AH and take a 15% to 20% hit but have no further dealings with the item after I send it in. To me, the extra few bucks aren't worth the headaches of DIY selling, not to mention that a single bad eBayer under their seller-killing rules can more than make up for any savings.

As for 20% or more BP, for that level of BP the seller should be doing an actual catalog. There are a number of sub-20% BP AH's that are internet only.

What really chaps my hide is what I saw on MEARS:

"There is a 22.5% Buyer's Premium for payment with credit card and PayPal. If you pay by cashiers check, money order, wire transfer or check within 10 days of receipt of invoice a 2.5% discount can be applied to net a buyers premium of 20%. Payments AFTER 10 days by these methods cannot apply the 2.5% discount."

They call it a discount because the credit card processing contracts I've reviewed all forbid vendors from charging a premium for use of the card [it discourages card use], but really it is a penalty to discourage electronic payments via those methods. I don't have any other trade relationships where a net 10 payment discount depends on the payment method; the merchants want their payments quickly and will offer net 10 terms regardless of payment methods to try and get it.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Most AH's will negotiate a 0% commission to the seller, especially for slabbed cards. The BP is where they make their money. eBay's rake when paypal is factored in is about 13% for the casual seller, and that includes a final value fee and paypal fee on shipping costs. So, if I have a $100 slabbed card to sell I can either pay $13 to eBay and co., with the 'pleasure' of dealing with the general public and fulfilling the sale myself, or I can consign it to an AH and take a 15% to 20% hit but have no further dealings with the item after I send it in. To me, the extra few bucks aren't worth the headaches of DIY selling, not to mention that a single bad eBayer under their seller-killing rules can more than make up for any savings.

As for 20% or more BP, for that level of BP the seller should be doing an actual catalog. There are a number of sub-20% BP AH's that are internet only.

What really chaps my hide is what I saw on MEARS:

"There is a 22.5% Buyer's Premium for payment with credit card and PayPal. If you pay by cashiers check, money order, wire transfer or check within 10 days of receipt of invoice a 2.5% discount can be applied to net a buyers premium of 20%. Payments AFTER 10 days by these methods cannot apply the 2.5% discount."

They call it a discount because the credit card processing contracts I've reviewed all forbid vendors from charging a premium for use of the card [it discourages card use], but really it is a penalty to discourage electronic payments via those methods. I don't have any other trade relationships where a net 10 payment discount depends on the payment method; the merchants want their payments quickly and will offer net 10 terms regardless of payment methods to try and get it.

I think That law got overturned (at least in Texas if not the whole US) some time ago....

http://www.merchantcouncil.org/merch...e-customer.php

[chipperhank44]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

What really chaps my hide is what I saw on MEARS:

"There is a 22.5% Buyer's Premium for payment with credit card and PayPal. If you pay by cashiers check, money order, wire transfer or check within 10 days of receipt of invoice a 2.5% discount can be applied to net a buyers premium of 20%. Payments AFTER 10 days by these methods cannot apply the 2.5% discount."

My personal favorite was when I saw an auction house's terms and conditions say "No Returns are accepted, all items sold As Is" and then also say "By bidding you agree not to issue a credit or debit card chargeback". I couldn't wait to bid!