How does one avoiding losing their shirts with auctions houses?

[BeanTown]

Make up a consignment list. Then allow all the AHs compete for your business. Mention you are a Net54 member and using Net54 advertisers will most likely give you a very good deal. I imagine you have already been contacted privately by some AHs already with this post.

Depending on the amount of consignments, you should not have to pay a consigners fee and if you consign enough stuff, ask for a percentage of the buyers fee paid to you. Plus, AHs will pay for grading many times. It's also good to have them allow you to read the auction description of your consignments before they get posted.

Many other things can be negotiated to like catalog placement, reserves, lot groupings, the size used in the catalog (quarter, half, or full page) and maybe even a cover.