My first consignment
 

I have an item with recent sales that are quite a bit higher than anything I’ve sold previously. So, I am consigning it to Huggins & Scott for their February auction. Due to the value of the item, I am driving there to personally deliver it.

Yes, I’ve made an appointment. Yes, I’ve already worked out the consignment fee. Yes, the item is securely packed for transit. Yes, I’ll have ID.

Is there anything I should know when walking into this? Are there any etiquette and/or procedural items which might not be apparent to a first-timer? For example, I’m thinking of taking photos which show the item resting on the signed paperwork before H&S takes possession.

Sorry for the newbie question. Thanks, in advance, for your insight.

Do what makes you feel comfortable. If they have an issue with you doing something like that I sure as hell
Wouldn’t consign.

If it's a really top notch special item you could speak with them about getting placed in the front of the auction, in the top 10 or 25 listings for example, featured in promotional emails, etc.

Don't demand some crazy high opening price. The AH will know where to open it. Sometimes a high opening price can be disastrous. Just like selling a house. You want excitement and bidding. It will get up to a reasonable # on its own if its a quality item.

Don't nitpick the write up, as these guys know what they are doing. At the end of the day breathless crazy write ups probably aren't that important. However, if you feel it misses something important or misstates something, definitely speak up quickly.

My other advice would be not to drive yourself watching the bidding. My experience lately has been that you get a flurry of bids the first two days (people essentially putting a marker down) and then it goes slow for weeks. Only to pick up again the last two days. I'm sure if you polled consignors three days before their auction closes 97% of them would say they are unhappy where the item is sitting. Are exceptions of course.

Hi Eric! Not sure what you're consigning as I've been on vacation. However, if it's card related then I will handle the description and research end of the deal. We get these questions all of the time and will keep you in the loop from start to finish. Thanks for working with us!

I consigned baseball cards , sets , autographs , and memorabilia with H & S for several auctions from 2016 until 2019 with items valued at $100 to items valued many many times that and I found them easy to deal with and I was kept in the loop constantly from shipping the items to them or having Dick pick them up at my house in GA until post auction settlement . They were great communicating with me the day before and the day of the auction if they felt it necessary to do so . My consignment fees were negotiated fairly and never changed over the time of our dealings . Trust their judgement on catalog placement and on reserves versus minimum bids for the item , but remember this is still an auction so your item may sell lower than you think it's worth , or hopefully much more than you think it's worth . I did take photos of all my items front and back and of the LOAs that were with them for my records before shipping just in case something unfortunate did happen , but nothing ever did .
Good Luck !

The process should be as easy as sending the item to them (protected under their insurance policy) and signing (and reading) the contract. H&S is a reputable AH, they are not going to Crazy Uncle you.

Delivering in person, taking photos with the contract, etc. certainly doesn't hurt but shouldn't really be necessary.

If you have a high dollar item you're consigning you shouldn't have to give up a seller's commission. 90% of auction houses won't charge you one depending on your item. Best of luck in the consignment.

How does it work for taxes ? Does the AH report your sales to the IRS or is that up to you to do it ? See many items selling for over 100K, so was just wondering. thanks

It's up to you to report.

Another neophyte question:

Given the large buyers' premiums at the typical large AH, what are the sellers' costs or fees to consigning at one of them?

Delivering in person or having them pickup your items may depend on the value. USPS Registered mail will only insure up to fifty thousand, so you may want to check FedEx on their insurance limits--good luck with your consignment.

For a large value item have the AH send you a label or instructions how to ship so that you're covered on their private insurance policy.

Thank you, everyone. I appreciate your insight and suggestions.

I drove to drop the item off in person. The experience went quite well and the staff member with whom I worked was pleasant and professional.

Since the auction won't occur for a few months, I won't really know how much the item will bring until 2021. However, I am quite confident the hammer price will make this process worthwhile.

The item isn't technically a Pre-War card, so I won't go into specifics here regarding what was consigned. Plus, in my opinion, promoting it on the main page would be in poor taste.

Once again, thank you. I really do appreciate this board and its membership.

+1 to all of this.

+1 Also to the person who said do what makes you feel comfortable. I'm sure H&S will be happy to do what needs to be done to make you feel right about trusting your items to them.

Fed EX and UPS will sell you whatever insurance you want, but then when it, god forbid, comes time to file a claim they point you to the fine print that states that they don't insure collectibles over $1000 and then they give you $1000 and refund you the insurance fees you paid.

I have read/heard this numerous times. I figured it would actually be faster to drive the item to H&S than it would be to properly research the best way to ship and fully insure it.

If your consignment is good enough they'd probably come to you, it's not that long a drive.

Huggins & Scott are listed as attending the Philly Show the first week of December. Assuming this show isn't cancelled, this might have been the easiest and most enjoyable way to deliver your item to H & S.

When people say the AHs will waive seller's fees for "high-value" items, how high are we talking about? $5K+? $10K+? $25K+? $100K+?

Is there anything I should know when walking into this?

Yes. Having been to the House of Cards / Huggins and Scott location several times, you should be warned that the folks there are exceedingly friendly :)

Scott

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I consigned some things to H&S a few years ago that I took to the National and spoke to a couple of different auction houses.

H&S by FAR was the most pleasant to speak with in person, did not try to "pump" up my items etc. Bill took a lot of time to speak to me about my items.

It included a number of early Cub Team Photo packs and early Cubs world series programs.

Very happy how it was all handled with them start to finish and would certainly use them again.

I had considered going that route. However, that particular event will likely not occur.

This is not a knock on the show promoters. The county in which the show is typically held will likely not allow an indoor gathering of that size for the remainder of 2020.

I like how you turned them into a verb, Jeff :)

I wish this were true. I found this not to be true at all.

Yes, I did that, Worked for me