Posted By:
andy beckerDoug,
first let me say to the board what you and your staff already know.
I fully support mastro. I bid in all of their auctions. I win items in most....many times multiple items.
however, in an auction that generates $11 million (I think that's average for mastro, correct me if I am wrong) of sales the buyer's premium ONLY is 1.925 million. assuming that you let every seller in the door for free, that is still huge revenue for delivering a service.....as you are not fabricating the items you sell.
giving out catalogs will expand your customer base, and inevitably increase your revenue.
if you were to ask for references, as most auction houses do, you would certainly avoid giving away catalogs (and associated set-up costs) to people who have no intention of participating.
I go back to my original analogy from josh's thread, this sounds like the equivalent of Exxon/Mobil having a toll booth at the entrance to every service station.
let's call a spade a spade, Doug. mastro is charging a "registration" fee because you CAN....if you were not the top dog in the sports auction business you would never do it because nobody (myself included) would pay.
and I guess at the end of the day, that is your prerogative, but I really do think it is a bad business decision.
isn't it better to expand your customer base than to alienate potential customers?
especially when you make a statement like "I literally have thousands of buyers who have been getting free catalogs for years and haven't bought anything...I love these people because they are active and serious collectors".
didn't those people have to start at some point?
all this being said, I still believe that mastro is top in their field....and far and away is my preferred auction house.