The final straw(s)

[alexanderautographs]

Originally Posted by tazdmb

While I agree you have to be "Greedy" to be an auctioneer as you eat what you kill. That being said, when I consign things to auction, I personally feel it is obnoxious to have to pay a consignor fee to an auction fee that is already making 20% on the back-end. The variable costs to add my stuff is minimal and does not justify 20%, knowing that the item will sell for less than FMV as the buyer will consider the juice before making a bid.

I much rather buy and sell things here at close to FMV or consign to auction houses with minimal/no consignment fee.

As for Hamilton's quote, i think we are way past "occasional".

Thanks for your input. Remember that in the good old days, consignment rates were 10% and the BP was perhaps 10-15%. That was twenty years ago. Now, with prices for AVERAGE material really pretty much the same, the net dollars the auctioneer brings in are relatively unchanged. Yes, it's true. And for a really large collection, some auctioneer charges the seller a 5%, 0%, or even offers a negative commission. At the end of the day, it's still about 20-25%. Also- factor in the fact that greedy proxy bidding sites whack the auctioneer for 5%, credit card companies get 2.5%, Paypal the same.

Believe me, if you think the average auctioneer drives a Rolls, you're way wrong. We do this for the same reason you do - we love the material.