Let's Rate The Auction Houses

[Archive]

Posted By: Joann

Abbreviating and expanding the categories as follows:

Q = quality of rare (or maybe just vintage) material
Ds = quality of descriptions & overal presentation of material (print & web)
CS = customer service
Cg = timely payment to consignors
Sh = timely shipment of lots won
H = perception of integrity (positive, not perception of dishonesty)
$ = fees to house - catalog, buyer fee, consignor's fee, whatever.

And since I didn't see it in the thread ... 1 = worst and 5 = best for the category


Goodwin Q 4 Ds 4 CS NA Cg NA Sh NA H 4 $ 3
Hunt Q 4 Ds 2 CS NA Cg NA Sh NA H 4 $ Not sure
Huggins Q 4 Ds 5 CS 5 Cg NA Sh 5 H 4 $ 4
Lelands Q 3 Ds 3 CS NA Cg NA Sh NA H 4 $ Not sure
Mastro(prem)Q 5 Ds 5 CS 4 Cg NA Sh NA H 2 $ 1
Mile H Q 3 Ds 4 CS NA Cg NA Sh NA H 1 $ Not sure
19CO Q 2 Ds 3 CS 5 Cg NA Sh 5 H 4 $ 4
REA Q 5 Ds 5 CS 5 Cg NA Sh 5 H 5 $ 3
Sloate Q 4 Ds 4 CS 5 Cg NA Sh NA H 5 $ 4
B/L Q 4 Ds 4 CS NA Cg NA Sh NA H 5 $ 5
Lipset Q 3 Ds 3 CS NA Cg NA Sh 5 H 4 $ 5

Interesting exercise. I added a few and omitted those I'm completely unfamiliar with.

I went a little higher for both catalog and internet, and a little more for descriptions that are more than one-liners and/or more extensive pictures. The 5's in the honesty category were for those that I thoguht had taken an affirmative step to do something more than just "be honest". Like sign on to MEARS policy, or disclose ownership, or otherwise make provisions to run a transparent auction that addresses some key hobby concerns.

And I did just kind of wing it, so I'm sure someone could debate why so-and-so got a 3 while such-and-such got a 4 in the Ds category when so-and-so has 4.2 pictures per lot and such-and-such averages only 3.9 pictures per lot, or something like that. I'm sure there are inconsistencies. Oh well.

J

And ... it's about impossible to read. On my edit screen I have the scores lined up in columns with lots of space in between, but Preview shows me that the spaces will disappear when I post and they'll all be jammed together. Sorry about that - not sure how to format them but I'm posting it anyways.