Slow payments/nonpayment
 

Just another brick in the wall, I guess...

Seems like the economic situation must be starting to affect our world a bit more these days. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who received this email from Heritage today:

As a result of a noticeable uptick in delayed payments, and higher interest rates in financial markets, interest charges will be added to invoices not paid by the due date, consistent with Heritage's Terms and Conditions of sale, as follows:

A 1% monthly interest charge on the declining balance will be applied to all invoices that are not paid within 14 days of the invoice date. After 45 days, the interest rate will increase to 1.5% monthly, on the declining balance.

We will send a reminder by email, before the due date.

Flexible Payment Options: We understand that circumstances can vary, and we are committed to working with you to find a suitable payment solution if needed. Please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss any concerns or to set up a payment plan.

Almost all the time I wish I could get my invoice faster, much less waiting 1-2 weeks to actually pay.

If anyone gets into a situation like that without a sudden unforeseen incident occurring or a plan that involves the wait they should probably do some self-checking on whether they might have a spending, bid-gambling, or hording addiction.

I get you, for sure. And generally agree.

Of course, there was one time when I waited until the last day to pay an invoice. I won a pretty thick stack of rare and valuable Mays pieces at the auction, and was on the cusp of getting a big bonus at work. So I took my sweet time to pay, because I expected to have the cash by the deadline.

Naturally the bonus dragged, and ultimately didn't come in by the payment deadline, so I had to float the payment on the HELOC, which the wife TOTALLY loved. Luckily, the bonus came through shortly thereafter and it only cost me a couple hundred in interest. But the principle didn't sit well with her.

My theory in general is if you don’t have the money to pay for something immediately, then you probably shouldn’t be buying it. Can’t blame an auction house for doing this. Business 101.

Sounds reasonable. Surprised they weren’t already doing that. Still cheaper then most credit cards nowadays.

Its always been the rule at Heritage as stated in their terms, the email was just a reminder since slow/non pay is increasing. I think every bidder got one as a general FYI.

Blows my mind to think that people would bid otherwise.

Not just Business 101, but Life 101. Don't spend whatcha aint got.

There's so many auction houses these days, I can't keep up with them all. I've forgotten I won something more than once.

Also, not everyone keeps large sums of cash just sitting around in their checking accounts. For smaller purchases, sure, you should have the money available. But for high-end stuff, people often have to move money around in order to pay for it.

Yeah, I'm living that $100-$5000 auction life over here, not bidding on the big time stuff.

If I was playing in league with the big boys of the market, the timing of moving money would be a much more serious thing and the really large stuff I'd want to make sure I won before shuffling assets around.

+1. All businesses give a window to pay and then charge late fees; 1% per month is a pretty cheap late fee.

If you win something big and have to move money around etc, just call the AH. I am sure they will work with you and waive the late fee if you communicate and follow through with whatever the parties agree to

My experience with heritage has been that they pay consignors on day 45 exactly. If they want payment net 14 I guess they plan on taking a thirty day loan interest free from consignors. Plop that into a HYSA and the rake must be sizable.

Totally agree with you guys on not buying what you can’t afford. Like the song says, don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.

This is 2024 not 1894. How long can it take to get money transferred to an account where a payment can then be made? 6 hours? I can do it in seconds if the money is not already in my account.

And if you know you are bidding and possibly going to spend a good deal of money, why not prepare in advance?

I think its mostly a case of people trying to sell material to cover the auction tab. After many major auctions we see a rash of better material on the BST in an effort to raise cash after they win an item. Could be a small, medium or large purchase.

Weirdly that isn't how it works most of the time. I owned a construction company and the more money the client had the harder/longer it took to get paid.

Wouldn't work in auctions. In construction we would add 10% to the bid. If they paid with in 7 days of completion of job they got a 10% discount or what it would normally cost. If I had to wait they paid a 10% fee after 7 days. This was a must for wealthy people and Churches. Almost all poor people tried to pay before you even finished the job in my 20+ years of real life experience.

I figured this was more about a forum member not paying for something. Nice to see I was wrong.:)

100%.

Heritage, and all auction houses, need some time between receiving payment and then paying the consigners, to make sure there isn't a problem with the item itself. For instance, if a jersey is sold as an all original 1955 Cardinals home flannel, but the buyer, when he receives it, notices the zipper hasp is plastic rather than metal and insists on a return, a reputable AH will allow that (and apologize sincerely for the mistake.)

As far as Heritage, twice they've shipped my winnings to me before receiving my payment, which I thought was pretty nice. I'm not a big spender but I participate and bid regularly with them.

Ask the data scientist , he has specifics

Heritage is a reputable AH and I have nothing but positive things to say about them. They are reasonable and will work with you if some unforeseen issue occur.

Communication is EVERYTHING. We don't enforce any of our "punitive" policies with simple communication.