Auction Houses...who pays consigners in a timely fashion?
 

I have had experience with maybe 3-4 of the "major" auction houses in the hobby. And honestly...my experiences are pretty mixed...running the gamut from very poor communication/customer service/ridiculously long wait times for payment...to the opposite.

From your experiences out there...who pays consigners in the most timely manner?

Robert Edwards was pretty good. PWCC, you have to wait until all the auctions are finished, but if you don't mind waiting a month, they are good. Memory Lane was pretty good. Bill Goodwin was good. I will let you know about Huggins and Scott in a couple of months. Have never really had a problem, although I have heard horror stories....

Sterling, Love of the Game, Probstein and REA are fast. Legendary was painfully slow. Mile High was reasonable.

VCBC when Dennis Purdy owned it ran a really good poll on auction houses and dealers. Wish there was something like that again.

In my experience...very few of the AH's are consistent in their practices...and being on vacation or taking time off is not a legitimate excuse for why I haven't received my consignment check or my items in a timely manner.

Fast: Giovanni, Sterling, Joe's Vintage, Bagger's, LOTG, REA, B&L

My Experiences:

Probstein: 3-6 days after auction closes
PWCC: 2-4 weeks after auction closes
Goldin: 4-6 weeks after auction closes
Huggins and Scott: 4-6 weeks after auction closes
Mile High Card Co. 6-10 MONTHS after auction closes

Jason,

6-10 Months??!!!

That's ridiculous!!

Tony

Have consigned with REA and Legendary when they were Mastro. Both were paid on time to early with decent advances up front.

Brockelman & Luckey--- We start paying two weeks after the auction closes.

Love of the Game was fast for me-- under a month. Might have been three weeks. Though I would imagine if someone consigned multiple lots and one (or two) winner was slow to pay, that would slow things down.

For the record, I'm not one to count down the days and had no pressing need for the money. In fact, I went back and calculated the time it took only now after reading this thread. But I do know when I've waited too long for something to arrive.

For me it's a matter of expectations. If a compnay says it will take two months for my new furniture to be delivered, then a two months date doesn't bother me and I would say "Right on time" as the truck pulls up. If someone won an auction for me on eBay, I'd assume they'd pay in a day or two if they don't tell me otherwise, and a one month delay would be distressing. In fact, I may have reslisted the lot before the month is up.

I recently bought a new large refrigerator from a Home Depot which is just five miles away. It took about three weeks for them to deliver it via truck, but it came on the exact pre-scheduled day they said it would, so no complaints from me. Outside of me renting a truck, there was no way I could bring a refrigerator home myself. A refrigerator won't fit in a PT Cruiser nor the city bus.

Memory Lane - Great communication and had check in hand with 10 days.

I agree with you on the expectations part...which is where communication comes into play and where a lot of the AH's break down.

When all I hear is crickets...my mind goes to work and bad things happen!!!:p

Goodwin & Love of the Game

I think my point of this exercise has been proven...atleast to me. I have had some of my worst experiences with some of the AH's that some of you had great experiences with. So maybe this is a product of the actual items being auctioned...in addition obviously to how frequently one uses said AH.

I've been very fortunate as the few times I've consigned w/ auction houses, I receive payments pretty fast.

The quickest was w/ REA w/ their last auction as I rec'd my winning lots & consignment check 3 days after the auction ended.

I can vouch for that. Also LOTG. Both swift and great experiences as a consignor from start to finish.

LOTG, Sterlings, Baggers were all fast for me when I was consigning my partner's collection.

REA was about a week for me

Auction Houses
 

B & l

I have consigned once. An entire collection of 1100 cards to LOTG. Recieved full payment within 4 weeks. It was a real pleaseure to work with Al!

Fast: REA, LOTG, Probstein

From my experiences:

The fastest: Sterling and Brockelman&Luckey

Almost as fast: Love of the Game and REA

Just rec'd my Sterling consignment check this morning, so 10 1/2 days after the auction ended.
Considering 2 weekends and a July 4th holiday in the middle, that's fantastic service, Thanks Lee

I have only consigned through 'Love of the Game' (Al) and REA - both paid in a timely fashion; in fact, for both the checks arrived unexpectedly. Also, both experiences involved the AH owner going above-and-beyond in how they handled my items.

See, I don't always complain about auction houses.