Auction House Buyer's Premiums
 

Figured we should get to the bottom of these pesky buyer's premiums that seem to get a fair amount of us all utzed up!

ALWAYS. Furthermore, when a record price is established, the adjusted value for the given card should take into account the gavel-winning bid AND the buyer's premium, considering the winner HAD to pay that out as well, before the auction house would mail him his card. Twenty percent buyer's premium is the going rate, and that ain't chump change! ----Brian Powell

Honest answer is Most of the time rather than the 'real money' one, because sometimes (though rare), I do forget. :)

The early responses so far are restoring my faith in humanity! :)

When I consigned with Heritage a few years ago, my rep told me "most people don't take the BP into consideration". In that instance, I had to pay 10% on my end plus the impact of the BP. I doubt I will go that route again because I don't think I get enough incremental eyes on it to break even at a 30% vig.

Where I struggle the most with is, even though I know and calculate the BP, the bid increments along with the BP usually cause me to overpay. I needed a '54 Bowman Ted Williams last year in a PSA 5. Peter had one on the board that was beautiful but it was sold before I got to it. Ebay had dried up for some reason - as there are usually 3-4 mid grade going at any time. As a result I bid at a mid-level AH with a 20% BP. In extended, my 1000 bid ($1200) felt steep but it was a pretty nice example. It was outbid with $1100 as the next one. I had to go $1200 to win it $1440. I knew it was $1440. It was clear. I am sure if I waited another month, I would find one here or on Ebay for $1000-$1200 delivered. But, to my error ad impatience, I was singularly focused on that hole in my collection and to the delight of consigners everywhere, I bit my bottom lip, hit the bid now button one more time and gave a PSA 6 price for a PSA 5 card.

If that card would have been on Ebay, I would have been just as eager to get it, but I wouldn't have been at $100 increments (120 including BP) and I might have been able to save in a 2 person war.

I know I lost my tail selling a 1954 Bowman Ted Williams SGC 5...something like $800...before fees. That's why I won't sell another one on there.

This poll doesn't tell us anything. I factor in the BP every time, but I still bid to win and deal with the consequences later.

The question should've been do you reduce your max bid by the full amount of the BP every time? That would tell us more than these options do. But I get it, you wanted to skew the results to support your opinion.

it's gotten to the point in this hobby where if you want super premium items...you almost almost always have to pay a super premium price for them. And since it is the bigger AH's where these items tend to appear...this is the reality.

If you're overpaying at AH's on common T206's...you're stupid! IMO.

If you "bid to win and deal with the consequences later", isn't that just another way of saying you'll bid above your pre-determined max if you feel you have to in order to win an item? If so, the BP has nothing at all to do with it. You'd bid above your "max" in an eBay auction as well it sounds like. If you don't care how much you spend, there's no point in blaming the BP.

I don't think there's anything wrong with bidding to win at any cost for certain items. That being said, it's weird to blame anyone but yourself when you get the invoice.

I'm not blaming anyone. I think it's a rip off. There's a big difference there.

And again...there's a difference in card bidding and memorabilia bidding. Cards are easy to set a "max price" for. Memorabilia is not. There's not much reference material to help you. It's more...what can I afford? And just because I can afford it, doesn't mean I want the final price inflated by 20%.

I think that's implicit in the question, but I agree with you (:eek:) it would have been more precise phrased that way. And I still would have answered yes.

the bid increments some auction houses impose should bother bidders a lot more than a buyers premium. but for the most part, they don't. and won't.

I've been in that trap many times where I would bid somewhat more but the next increment is irrational.

I can find most of the items I'm after on the 'Bay. I may have to search for a couple of months to find the grade/price ratio I'm comfortable with, but what the heck, I've got time. Besides, that slows down my outlay over time so that I can put food in our mouths and pay the rent. :)

If I did bid at AHs, I would certainly take the BP into account. If I remembered to.

Not the BP as much, but then shipping kind of adds Insult to injury. I i do factor in the BP, but then looking at that final invoice with a ridiculous shipping charge always leaves a bad taste

+1...plus any other odd charges that were added...like tax!!!!

People mentioned it was cheaper to buy a house in tax free NV when the market crashed, and let the packages build up until was worth the trip!


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So here is a fun and relevant experiment. Most you have likely seen the add here for R&R Auctions. I have no clue who they are but they have some very interesting and nice cards coming up for auction soon. I signed up for the auction and spent over an hour trying to navigate the site. A few things to note- first, the buyer’s premium is 22.5%!! Let’s see how that affects bidding; it will affect my bidding for sure. Second, nowhere that I can find do they list fees like shipping and sales tax. In fact, I cannot find one place, like every other auction house, that just lists all the rules.

I have sent them an email with a bunch of questions, but based on the high BP and the lack of transparency, coupled with the fact that I have never heard of them, I am very much on the fence whether I even place a bid on anything (and there are several things I need/could use).

With regards to this thread specifically, If I place any bids with this auction house, I will 100% be mindful of the fact that I need to add 22.5% to the price.

Ryan Hotchkiss

Ryan, no idea who RR is either, but here is a link to the T&C. https://www.rrauction.com/terms.cfm. Interesting is they are in MA, have a NH mailing address and also collect PA sales tax. Seems like they are more of a general auction house rather than strictly a sports collectibles house.

DJ

Thanks DJ. I saw that page but didn’t realize you had to scroll down. That is helpful. Now, if I want a card that I think is worth $1000, my highest bid will be $775 (or as close as the increment will let me get), because I know (because it’s stated) that I have to add 22.5% to my bid

3.2% idiots. I would have thought more.

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That's because many here confuse disdain for the BP with people not knowing it exists.

This horse died a long time ago.

How do you bid in an auction and not know the BP exists? That's amazing to me.

How do you have disdain for something that has no effect?

You have to have disdain for something in order the justify being a troll.

Now that's funny.

Pardon me if you are one...but "troll" is a term used by old ladies that just learned how to use the internet. Not men. Again...my apologies if I've mistaken your gender.

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Lol. You literally make my point for me.