Where do auction houses come up with their shipping charges?

[alanu]

I know this has been discussed before, but I recently won a lot in an auction for 3 graded cards for $100 and the shipping charge was $14.

It seems like with insurance, packaging materials and priority shipping the actual cost should be no more than $10 by any calculation so the extra $4 is at least another 4% added to the buyer's premium.

It's the first time I've bid in with this auction house and for this reason it will probably be the last (unless I see something I really really need).

I don't have any problem with paying actual cost, but I would hope that any "handling" charges would be included in the buyer's premium.

Sorry for my ranting.

-Alan

[Sterling Sports Auctions]

My thoughts exactly. I have let the auction house now of this and waiting for the response. I am getting charged $11.41 plus insurance for one card that first class is under $2 and priority under $6. That leaves a minimum $5 plus over the top.

Now for you people that think you need to factor in labor and materials, it is till ridicules it only takes 5 minutes to pack each item and the post office will pick them up. At there rates it's $50 or more we are paying to have these people pack our items. Sign me up for this job.

I also have let the action now that if they insist on charging the high fees that I will no longer bid with them. There are enough good auctions that don't charge outlandish shipping charges.

I would love to hear how people have been charged from different auction houses.

These are auction I have bought from recently:

Sterling: Close to cost
REA: close to cost

Lee

[sycks22]

A lot of auction houses use Fedex / UPS and even sending it via ground it costs a minimum of $12+. I think there are a lot of auction houses that once you show you're a regular buyer they lower your shipping costs. I recently purchased a couple cards that cost multiple thousands of dollars and the cost of shipping was under $6, amazing.

[t206hound]

I just won my first auction house item. I definitely underestimated the shipping... Lot of 14 raw will cost me $12.90 plus insurance. This actually was revised down from around $17 when I previewed the invoice before receiving via email. I believe it's shipping via FedEx, but still seems like a lot; first class mail would be half of that. My next bid with any auction house will factor this in... Which only hurts the consignor.

If the house knows within one day of close what the shipping for a single lot is, why can't they include that in the listing? Obviously insurance (listed separately in my invoice) depends on hammer price and multiple lots should ship for less.

[z28jd]

I won a $100 card from the last Goodwin auction and thought the $8.20 shipping they charged was a bit high, not high enough to complain but just something extra and I'll be darned if the shipping cost wasn't exactly $8.20 when I got it last night...they didn't even add for any handling

[sycks22]

Originally Posted by z28jd

I won a $100 card from the last Goodwin auction and thought the $8.20 shipping they charged was a bit high, not high enough to complain but just something extra and I'll be darned if the shipping cost wasn't exactly $8.20 when I got it last night...they didn't even add for any handling

Goodwin has always been amazingly close on shipping. I just got a package from them today via USPS priority insured and they charged me $7 I believe. Priority with any insurance would be $10, so they actually probably took a hit on the shipping. They have overnighted Fedex packages to me in the past where they charged $20 to ship and they were huge packages. Overnighting a 2 ounce letter costs $30

[Runscott]

As much as I griped about Heritage, I should say this: I won a rare hat from them and they only charged $14.60 for shipping - that's about what I charge, including insurance, when I ship a hat across country. So not bad.

[skelly]

Other than Robert Edwards, I'm surprised people even consign to auction houses. Personally from what I've seen, the ebay auction prices that PWCC gets online outperform the auction houses day in and day out. I think the auction house client base is limited. Personally I'll buy stuff on ebay, but I can't be bothered to register with an auction house.

[sycks22]

Originally Posted by skelly

Other than Robert Edwards, I'm surprised people even consign to auction houses. Personally from what I've seen, the ebay auction prices that PWCC gets online outperform the auction houses day in and day out. I think the auction house client base is limited. Personally I'll buy stuff on ebay, but I can't be bothered to register with an auction house.

Pros of the auction houses are:

1. You actually feel confident that the cases aren't cracked open.
2. You're confident you'll actually get your package.

Would you really feel confident buying anything over $5k from ebay? 80% of those cards are stolen scans. You don't hear stories from auction houses sending you an empy package and claiming there was a card in there.

[Sterling Sports Auctions]

I received this response from the auction, it looks like Fed Ex is a poor choice for shipping small items. I appreciate working with the customer and plan on continuing to bid on their auctions.

"My system quotes fedex ground with residential delivery and signature required and if you quote the cost on fedex, you'll see I'm not making a thing. That being said, I'll gladly ship it priority with signature confirmation....I have to have that much to comply with my insurance policy. If you'd like to take $5 off your bill, I'll ship it USPS priority and change it in my system. Thanks and I hope to keep you as a buyer; it's never my goal to end a transaction badly."

Bottom line for me in this case, if an auction house is using Fed Ex, you might want to look into cheaper alternatives. For my self USPS is much better to have delivered to me personally over FedEX and UPS, where they drop off packages with no one being home. Many of us have shipped cards and know what actual cost is thru the USPS and many times this is the cheapest route. Unneeded expenses are good to avoid.

Lee

[sycks22]

I'd be curious to know what % of items get lost when comparing UPS / Fedex / USPS. I think auction houses use fedex / ups based on their great tracking system and just feel more secure. I've shipped items USPS and it hasn't shown up on their site that it was even picked up until it reaches a person's home across the country 3-4 days later. Fedex tells you when the driver is stopping for 2 minutes at McDonald's to pick up a Mcrib.

[atx840]

My recent 1 card pickup was $5.60 shipping then bumped to $30 even. I do live in Canada but that is ridiculous.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by atx840

My recent 1 card pickup was $5.60 shipping then bumped to $30 even. I do live in Canada but that is ridiculous.

Many times, unbeknownst to buyers, there is a $25 or more fee for taking a check from Canada. Maybe that is what happened. We won't charge anymore shipping to Canada but it's a bit longer and much less tracking, unless you pay quite a bit of money. All in my own experiences.....I love Canadian customers and most understand the small issues shipping there.....best regards

[atx840]

100% agree there are issues getting cards up here and I appreciate those who do. The money order is a US cheque with no fees as I have used them before so no issue there, but $30 is steep as most BST cards even with insurance are $10-$15. I'll gladly pay it to feed the addiction but I do feel it's not an accurate rate. Cheers.

[Sterling Sports Auctions]

Hi, I just wanted to give kudos to Steve at Collect Auctions. I had my first purchase with him and had concerns with the shipping rate (addressed above). I had emailed him with my concern and we worked out using USPS instead of FedEx and it was $6 less to ship. It is nice to see that there are people willing to work with you if you just bring it to there attention.

I look forward to his coming auctions.

Lee

One other note for those auction houses that use strictly UPS or FedEx. The cost of shipping one or 2 cards is much less expensive using USPS and would go a long ways towards customer dissatisfaction on shipping if used.