Heritage auctions a joke

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by RedsFan1941

the assumption that an auction house is an auction house is an auction house amuses me in threads like this. while i think all AHs should provide certain essentials and services, the reality is our hobby has two major auction houses, some midsize ones, some that are run almost as a hobby or second source of income by their owners and others that literally consist of one person who could afford the auction software. when you consider the different margins (not to mention goals of the owners involved) it's not surprising things like shipping time, consignor checks and customer service vary. i can almost guarantee that if i started an AH with the business model of using it to sell things from my collection and take whatever consignments trickled in, i would be one of the most competitive in the hobby.

I would consign with you, Ronnie, because I think the write-ups would be amusing.

[egbeachley]

Because everyone else considered the minimum BP and relatively high shipping, it’s quite possible you won the card for $15 - $20 less than expected. In this case your shipping and tax were free.

[bigfish]

Originally Posted by Vintageclout

Don’t ever start an auction business. You’ll go under in 3-6 months. It’s a BUSINESS, not a soup kitchen!

Steve, have you thought about opening up a soup kitchen? I think it would be a feel good story and a perfect way to round out this thread in a positive way...

[Vintageclout]

Originally Posted by calvindog

Joe, you're being kind on that 90% figure.

True Jeff....I guess I was just trying to be nice....LOL!

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

None of the fees are hidden so do a few quick calculations before you bid. Yes, Heritage can be a bit pricey and I think you do a little better bidding on higher value items with them. If you win a $75 card you will probably get hit with some higher costs.

I have no problem with Heritage charging sales tax because it is the law and they have to. And they are not keeping one penny of it, as all they collect goes to the government. My only issue is it is hard for me to be competitive when another bidder is free of the sales tax obligation. He has a nearly one increment advantage over me so it makes it more difficult to win something.

So I prefer bidding with an auction house that doesn't need to charge me the tax. But I don't begrudge those who do, and I calculate everything before I bid. If you think a company charges you too much, find another to do business with. There is no shortage of auction houses.

Barry, we go through this same discussion every few months here. If you aren’t being charged sales tax you are obliged to pay use tax which is the same exact tax but remitted by the buyer. Either way you are supposed to pay.

[A2000]

I always thought Heritage was pretty upfront with their charges. If you're not sure if you have to pay sales tax, they even have a link for you before you can click to confirm your bid.

[robertsmithnocure]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Barry, we go through this same discussion every few months here. If you aren’t being charged sales tax you are obliged to pay use tax which is the same exact tax but remitted by the buyer. Either way you are supposed to pay.

Thanks Exhibitman,

I do not know why people can't understand this. Whether the auction house collects the tax on you behalf or not, you still owe it.

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by sflayank

Everyone here knows what its about
GREED...
why charge the same bp for 50 card as a 70 card..GREED
.btw...after i saw the invoice it took 20 minutes on their website to find their rules
Ive been bidding in all auctions as u guys know for 20 years...
So i ended up paying 50% over the price of the card
Imagine winning a 50 card in NY
50 +14 +13+6...$83
66% over the price of the card
GREED GREED GREED

They have decided it's not worth the time and cost of photographing, listing, and shipping a card for less than 14 bucks. I dont fault them for that. And I doubt they're making much of a profit on those cards. I do agree with your point about their website though. Trying to navigate it without linking through to the specific auction I'm looking for is frustrating to say the least.

[Fballguy]

Originally Posted by robertsmithnocure

Thanks Exhibitman,

I do not know why people can't understand this. Whether the auction house collects the tax on you behalf or not, you still owe it.

It's actually you AH defenders who don't understand...The OP's grievance was against have to pay additional tax because the AH charges an arbitrary shipping and handling charge. Not that he had to pay taxes. So many people in this thread keep missing that point then accusing the OP of not understanding. It's humorous.

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Barry, we go through this same discussion every few months here. If you aren’t being charged sales tax you are obliged to pay use tax which is the same exact tax but remitted by the buyer. Either way you are supposed to pay.

Adam- could you please clearly explain what use tax is? If, for example, I live in NY and bid in REA, which is in NJ, is there still some tax that is supposed to be paid? Sorry if I'm a little lost.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Basically Use tax is sales tax paid by the purchaser if the sale is interstate. Nobody, or almost nobody, pays it, but we're all supposed to.

[savedfrommyspokes]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Basically Use tax is sales tax paid by the purchaser if the sale is interstate. Nobody, or almost nobody, pays it, but we're all supposed to.

In my state, as long as the purchase is for re-sale, I am not obligated to pay the use tax.

[Leon]

I think the OP (hi Larry) might just have an axe to grind with the AH. It might be because a buddy of his got axed OR he just can't read the rules? Reading comprehension is fundamental to knowing what you are doing. And it seems to be a lost art on the OP. Anyone saying that Heritage is screwing them out of sales tax money is acting like an idiot. You heard it here first.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by savedfrommyspokes

In my state, as long as the purchase is for re-sale, I am not obligated to pay the use tax.

of course, the same as a sales ta exemption.

[Rhotchkiss]

Originally Posted by Leon

I think the OP (hi Larry) might just have an axe to grind with the AH. It might be because a buddy of his got axed OR he just can't read the rules? Reading comprehension is fundamental to knowing what you are doing. And it seems to be a lost art on the OP. Anyone saying that Heritage is screwing them out of sales tax money is acting like an idiot. You heard it here first.

Leon, seems that, lately, there is rash of net54 members who can’t read, but sure can write!

[markf31]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

It's actually you AH defenders who don't understand...The OP's grievance was against have to pay additional tax because the AH charges an arbitrary shipping and handling charge. Not that he had to pay taxes. So many people in this thread keep missing that point then accusing the OP of not understanding. It's humorous.

What you dont seem to understand is the fact that Heritage details and spells out ALL of their charges on their website and in the agreement that is signed by bidders at the time of registration. Heritage details and specifies that handling/service charges WILL BE CHARGED. And by law, when the handling and shipping are combined, tax MUST be paid on that charge. Those are the facts that you and the OP either are ignorant to or simply cant comprehend.

[Vintageclout]

Originally Posted by rhotchkiss

leon, seems that, lately, there is rash of net54 members who can’t read, but sure can write!

+1,000!

[Fballguy]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

Leon, seems that, lately, there is rash of net54 members who can’t read, but sure can write!

Yeah...And most of them are into some serious auction house worship.

[sflayank]

What is wrong with you people
All that is said is that in a heritage auction you can buy 1 psa card for $50 and depending on where you live pay 50 60 70 % more than your bid
Nobody said its not in their rules
Whats not in their rules is that i can buy a card for 50 and so can my neighbor and both of us pay different shipping charges
When one of you brilliant people explain that please feel free to enlighten us all

[sflayank]

Leon...start a poll 2 choices only
Who thinks their website sucks or is fantastic

[robertsmithnocure]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

It's actually you AH defenders who don't understand...The OP's grievance was against have to pay additional tax because the AH charges an arbitrary shipping and handling charge. Not that he had to pay taxes. So many people in this thread keep missing that point then accusing the OP of not understanding. It's humorous.

Exhibitman's post (and my follow-up) were both directed at barrysloate, not specifically the OP. It seems as though you have a difficult time with following the different posts on this thread.

[ullmandds]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

Leon, seems that, lately, there is rash of net54 members who can’t read, but sure can write!

but they don't write well!

[tschock]

Originally Posted by sflayank

What is wrong with you people
All that is said is that in a heritage auction you can buy 1 psa card for $50 and depending on where you live pay 50 60 70 % more than your bid
Nobody said its not in their rules
Whats not in their rules is that i can buy a card for 50 and so can my neighbor and both of us pay different shipping charges
When one of you brilliant people explain that please feel free to enlighten us all

As they used to say, let's go to the video tape.

I just won one psa card for $65
Final cost 97.50
Thats right 97.50
14 bp
13 s&h
5.50 sales tax
Now i know we've discussed them before
Obviously could be shipped insured for $3.50
Also if you win a card for less than 70 you still have to pay 14 bp
So if ypu win card for 50 bp is 28%
Also another "criminal act" they charge sales tax on the bp and the shipping and handling
I didnt know i was purchasing the bp and the handling
Why didnt the south florida collection go to them...thats part of it
Along with the fact they have the worst website ever designed

Now, if that's ALL you said, implying that was your only gripe, then why rant about the other stuff? Your original gripe that started the thread didn't even deal with the disparity between shipping costs. That was tacked on later. Granted, and as with myself as well, getting old does cause us to tend to forget things.

Maybe that is what's wrong with 'all these people'?

Added: I figured I'd chime in because I tend to kill off threads and this one deserves that fate.

[CW]

Maybe this is worth a new topic, but for those who don't like Heritage's site or find it hard to navigate, what specifically is so difficult? You say it sucks, but what sucks about it?

While it may not be perfect, I always found Heritage's site one of the easiest to use and navigate in the auction field.

First of all, you don't need to login with Paypal, Facebook, or anything like that. The Login page clearly shows you can login with Heritage credentials:






Once you login, you should either be directed right to the "sports" page or the main Heritage page. If you are on the main Heritage page, simply click "Departments" and then "Sports":






This takes you to the main sports page where you can search every single sports auction Heritage has running. If you prefer to search a specific auction, you can click the "all auction and buy it now" tab to select a certain auction to browse:






OR you can scroll down the page and see a list of current or past sports auctions. Underneath each one you can click the "view lots" button to browse or search that auction:






Once you are browsing a certain auction, you can scroll through the lots easily and see thumbnail images of each item. You can also track or bid on lots without even opening that lot page. Very convenient.


Finally, if you want to pull up your watch list or bid list, simply click on "My Heritage" in the upper right hand corner of any page:






So browsing lots, searching auctions (past and present), and seeing your bid or watch lists is all right there at your fingertips.

What exactly is so difficult with Heritage's site?

[tiger8mush]

Originally Posted by CW

What exactly is so difficult with Heritage's site?

I like the site and like how it shows the total bid when you are placing a bid (that includes bp). Only AH I don't like navigating is Hunt.

[sflayank]

All it does is show the breakdown as to how you pay 50% premium
I do notice that nobody can tell me how 2 idenricle items sent to 2 identical addresses have different postage
So lets move on to a different subject
Is there any other auction house where people win cards and the same night theyre reselling the card in the same auction house?...yes i know the rules in texas..heritage buys and sells their own cards in their own auctions..thats why
The so called "winners"are offering their "winnings" for sale right after the auction ends.you think heritage is paying sales tax on the cards they win themselves or sre they reporting non payment. Hmmm

[mechanicalman]

Darn it, Chuck. If you explain it, it makes it so much harder to bitch about!

[sycks22]

I've never had an issue with Heritage that they didn't clean up within a day. Great customer service. Most auction houses if you talk to them after the invoice you can waive the insurance which will save you a bunch on your over all invoice.

[Snapolit1]

[QUOTE=CW;1782549]Maybe this is worth a new topic, but for those who don't like Heritage's site or find it hard to navigate, what specifically is so difficult? You say it sucks, but what sucks about it?

When you do subject matter searches, it's very hard to tell whether what they are showing you is for sale now vs. what's for sale in two months vs. something they sold 2 years ago.

I like the guys who bought something for $70,000 last December but they will entertain an offer for $290,000. Yep, sure you would buddy.

[petecld]

Thank you CW! Couldn't have said it better myself.

Peter

[x2drich2000]

Heritage's shipping & handling is clearly provided on their website. Not only do they now have a calculator on each item to automatically show you the estimated shipping, they have a whole page dedicated to show how the amount is calculated. https://sports.ha.com/c/shipping.zx If you are being charged something different, I would either a not say anything if it is less, or call them and find out why it is more. Everytime I have talked to them on the phone they have been extremely helpful.

As far as their site, I think it is one of the better sites. Bids are clear, BP is shown so I don't have to think about it, it is easy to search their archives or see what is coming up, etc. One of the features I think is unique to them that I really like is the ability to bid on multiple lots at 1 time. If I'm bidding on 50 or 100 lots to get my initial bids in it, it sure beats having to go into each lot individually to place the bid.

[OriolesHOF]

I've always had a good experience with Heritage. I'm not a tech guy but I find the site easily navigated. In fact, I regularly refer to the archives for non Heritage auctions. With regards to shipping rates, I consider them a bit on the high side but I accept it because I find their packaging of my winnings to be exceptional. Some other AH's, not so much. Fifty plus years ago, my mother packed my daily egg salad sandwich school lunch with much more care than some packages I've received from some auction houses.

[keithsky]

Heritage auctions aren't too bad in my opinion pretty easy to navigate around. They're shipping leaves a lot to be desired as far as when you pay and when you get your item but other than that I'm happy with them. The worst is Hunts auction. Its terrible it's like going back in time to the 1980s on their website. You would think the amount of money they generate with some of the major auctions that they have that they put a little money into their auction website. There's usually one picture per lot which when you have something like a baseball bat game-used you want a few pictures of the bat they only show one not sure why it's so hard to take multiple pictures of certain lots so you can get a better view. If you email them and want more pictures they will send them but why in the heck do you have to keep doing that every time you want to see something you're interested in. If you take the time to send me pictures when I ask for them why not just put them on your website. Definitely the worst one to navigate around in my opinion. The descriptions are vague and not enough pictures for each lot. Their Louisville Slugger auction every November they have some fantastic stuff but one picture for a lot it's ridiculous

[CW]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

When you do subject matter searches, it's very hard to tell whether what they are showing you is for sale now vs. what's for sale in two months vs. something they sold 2 years ago.

I like the guys who bought something for $70,000 last December but they will entertain an offer for $290,000. Yep, sure you would buddy.

Fair enough, thanks for clarifying.

I just went to the sports page and did a search on "Lou Gehrig". I get these results which show how much time is left in the auction. You can also select between the two tabs for "available items" or "sold items". As you scroll down, yes, eventually you will get into sold items or items that are "coming soon". I think it's just a matter of getting used to glancing over to the right to see if the item is current, sold, or coming soon.

Hunts site is pretty bad, even Huggins and Scott sucks somewhat because certain searches do not give you a thumbnail image, but Heritage's site is pretty good, in my opinion (Ch.uck W.o|f)

[perezfan]

I used to dislike the Heritage Website a lot.... until I played around with it for a while and learned some of the features. Now I'd have to say it's my favorite Auction Site of all. Very informative, and easy to navigate (once you invest a bit of effort to learn it).

In addition, Heritage ships to me before I've even paid, and their packaging is stellar (important for the kind of stuff I buy). I find their shipping charges to be very much in-line with the other "big boys" in the hobby, with the exception of REA of course.

As for the worst...

Completely agree with Hunts, who typically shows you one single panel of an autographed Baseball (among other atrocities). For group lots, they'll often picture 4-5 items out of a dozen, and leave you guessing about the rest. And their search function is a joke... you will befuddle their 1980s technology if you try to use more than one key search word.

Also eBay's Mobile Site is worthless. You cannot do sh!t with it, and even when you click on "Classic Site", it automatically defaults you right back to their crappy mobile site after a couple more clicks. They need to scrap it!

[Fballguy]

So I won two items at Heritage...a few days apart. I called and asked if they could combine shipping on them, which they agreed to. I make paypal payment on the 21st of May and 10 days later, I finally receive notification of shipment.

And the very next day I receive a large box from Dallas, TX. I put the box aside in part to pleasure delay and in part because i was enjoying my Friday afternoon and didn't want another AH screw up to change my mood.

Ultimately...after a beer and a glass of wine, I figured it was time. The box seemed appropriate...more than appropriate actually for what I had won. So I was optimistic. But upon opening the box, amidst a sea of packing peanuts and double boxing, I find, only the item pictured below. Thirty 1950 Bowman football cards. Plus the invoices for both items. You've got to be kidding me. They forgot to include my second item? A football pennant? You'd think 10 days would've been enough time for them to double check their work.

So I go out to the website and realize...despite combining shipping...and despite using a box big enough to hold 20 pennants....they sent the pennant separately. And that second package is yet to arrive. Which is odd because it was shipped at the exact same time from the same location.

Assuming the pennant arrives today, not much to criticize here except the slow shipping but I think the picture below explains why shipping charges are so high.

[JollyElm]

I have no idea how pertinent this is, but here's the info for anyone interested. I'm awaiting receipt of a high number 1961 PSA 8 Mickey Mantle All Star card I got off of ebay with the 20% discount coupon code. In looking at recent graded sales of the card, something jumped the f_ck out at me!!

I saw that a PSA 6 went for $864 at Heritage Auctions (highlighted in red)!! YOWZA!!!! Here is a copy and paste of a chronological list of 6's sold (from February on) this year. Look at the price disparity between that one card and all of the others!! When I clicked on links to view the cards, they all seemed completely similar to each other. None had such ferocious 'eye appeal' or centering, etc., that it would warrant paying three times what everyone else was paying. And a very similar 6 sold for $247.50 only two days after Heritage ended and one sold a week earlier for $240 (FWIW, an 8 is a BIN on ebay for $615.55 and a 7.5 for $600). I know absolutely nothing about Heritage Auctions and don't have a dog in this fight, but, man, something does not seem right here...at all.

DATE PRICE GRADE LOT # AUCTION HOUSE AUCTION / SELLER TYPE CERT
6/5/2018 $247.50 6 362334896731 eBay probstein123 Auction 40813246
6/3/2018 $864.00 6 41049 Heritage Auctions Sunday Internet Sports Collectibles Auction Ended Jun 3rd Auction 27574548
4/27/2018 $240.00 6 152987726535 eBay gleherrin_0 Best Offer 31685826
4/15/2018 $292.00 6 142746810628 eBay pwcc_auctions Auction 26033888
3/20/2018 $300.00 6 282888881390 eBay trepidation34 Buy It Now 28652074
3/15/2018 $375.00 6 302666108544 eBay jl4jc2001 Best Offer 28971850
3/9/2018 $319.99 6 112850757046 eBay amerlegends Buy It Now 28687728
3/4/2018 $245.50 6 263513056059 eBay vintagecardboardforme Auction 25835103
3/4/2018 $294.00 6 192460131594 eBay pmsbcc Auction 28648880
2/27/2018 $244.00 6 362247417468 eBay probstein123 Auction 28468211

[Fballguy]

This is exactly what I'm talking about but some would rather be ostriches and pretend it's not so. I did the same research with a different card and got the same results. It took about 5 minutes...which is apparently too much for some here.

But let the believers believe...the buyers premium suppresses bidding to the point of equilibrium.

Originally Posted by JollyElm

I have no idea how pertinent this is, but here's the info for anyone interested. I'm awaiting receipt of a high number 1961 PSA 8 Mickey Mantle All Star card I got off of ebay with the 20% discount coupon code. In looking at recent graded sales of the card, something jumped the f_ck out at me!!

I saw that a PSA 6 went for $864 at Heritage Auctions (highlighted in red)!! YOWZA!!!! Here is a copy and paste of a chronological list of 6's sold (from February on) this year. Look at the price disparity between that one card and all of the others!! When I clicked on links to view the cards, they all seemed completely similar to each other. None had such ferocious 'eye appeal' or centering, etc., that it would warrant paying three times what everyone else was paying. And a very similar 6 sold for $247.50 only two days after Heritage ended and one sold a week earlier for $240 (FWIW, an 8 is a BIN on ebay for $615.55 and a 7.5 for $600). I know absolutely nothing about Heritage Auctions and don't have a dog in this fight, but, man, something does not seem right here...at all.

DATE PRICE GRADE LOT # AUCTION HOUSE AUCTION / SELLER TYPE CERT
6/5/2018 $247.50 6 362334896731 eBay probstein123 Auction 40813246
6/3/2018 $864.00 6 41049 Heritage Auctions Sunday Internet Sports Collectibles Auction Ended Jun 3rd Auction 27574548
4/27/2018 $240.00 6 152987726535 eBay gleherrin_0 Best Offer 31685826
4/15/2018 $292.00 6 142746810628 eBay pwcc_auctions Auction 26033888
3/20/2018 $300.00 6 282888881390 eBay trepidation34 Buy It Now 28652074
3/15/2018 $375.00 6 302666108544 eBay jl4jc2001 Best Offer 28971850
3/9/2018 $319.99 6 112850757046 eBay amerlegends Buy It Now 28687728
3/4/2018 $245.50 6 263513056059 eBay vintagecardboardforme Auction 25835103
3/4/2018 $294.00 6 192460131594 eBay pmsbcc Auction 28648880
2/27/2018 $244.00 6 362247417468 eBay probstein123 Auction 28468211

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

This is exactly what I'm talking about but some would rather be ostriches and pretend it's not so. I did the same research with a different card and got the same results. It took about 5 minutes...which is apparently too much for some here.

But let the believers believe...the buyers premium suppresses bidding to the point of equilibrium.

Wait what? you were complaining about BP. The post you quote is talking about the rules of Heritage which certainly seem to imply that their employees can shill and pointing to his example as evidence. Yet "This is exactly what " you're talking about???!!! Seems like an entirely new (and much more disturbing) topic to me.

[bensie]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

I have no idea how pertinent this is, but here's the info for anyone interested. I'm awaiting receipt of a high number 1961 PSA 8 Mickey Mantle All Star card I got off of ebay with the 20% discount coupon code. In looking at recent graded sales of the card, something jumped the f_ck out at me!!

I saw that a PSA 6 went for $864 at Heritage Auctions (highlighted in red)!! YOWZA!!!! Here is a copy and paste of a chronological list of 6's sold (from February on) this year. Look at the price disparity between that one card and all of the others!! When I clicked on links to view the cards, they all seemed completely similar to each other. None had such ferocious 'eye appeal' or centering, etc., that it would warrant paying three times what everyone else was paying. And a very similar 6 sold for $247.50 only two days after Heritage ended and one sold a week earlier for $240 (FWIW, an 8 is a BIN on ebay for $615.55 and a 7.5 for $600). I know absolutely nothing about Heritage Auctions and don't have a dog in this fight, but, man, something does not seem right here...at all.

DATE PRICE GRADE LOT # AUCTION HOUSE AUCTION / SELLER TYPE CERT
6/5/2018 $247.50 6 362334896731 eBay probstein123 Auction 40813246
6/3/2018 $864.00 6 41049 Heritage Auctions Sunday Internet Sports Collectibles Auction Ended Jun 3rd Auction 27574548
4/27/2018 $240.00 6 152987726535 eBay gleherrin_0 Best Offer 31685826
4/15/2018 $292.00 6 142746810628 eBay pwcc_auctions Auction 26033888
3/20/2018 $300.00 6 282888881390 eBay trepidation34 Buy It Now 28652074
3/15/2018 $375.00 6 302666108544 eBay jl4jc2001 Best Offer 28971850
3/9/2018 $319.99 6 112850757046 eBay amerlegends Buy It Now 28687728
3/4/2018 $245.50 6 263513056059 eBay vintagecardboardforme Auction 25835103
3/4/2018 $294.00 6 192460131594 eBay pmsbcc Auction 28648880
2/27/2018 $244.00 6 362247417468 eBay probstein123 Auction 28468211

You should look at more cards. I've found that a lot of times, the closing price of heritage auctions is lower than eBay by a considerable margin. Sometimes auctions go bananas and there's no explicable reason for it. I had a 1955 Jackie Robinson that went for well over 2x market price. It was off center too, so not likely it went to a card doctor or something...

[Fballguy]

The point I’m making is that items are cheaper on eBay, where there is no BP.

Shill bidding can occur anywhere...though this example does seem extreme....and obviously the BP alone isn’t the entire difference.

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Wait what? you were complaining about BP. The post you quote is talking about the rules of Heritage which certainly seem to imply that their employees can shill and pointing to his example as evidence. Yet "This is exactly what " you're talking about???!!! Seems like an entirely new (and much more disturbing) topic to me.

[bensie]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

The point I’m making is that items are cheaper on eBay, where there is no BP.

Sorry, but you're wrong.