What would YOU like to see in a online auction?

[Orioles1954]

Originally Posted by aquarian sports cards

there's a reason they "used to" and even then they weren't shipping for free. And please don't think i'm somehow ripping them, their margins are pretty much the smallest i've seen. If they can make it work at those numbers they are paragons of efficiency or something.

Let's look at their september auction.

Approximately 650 lots, let's say they averaged $200 per item, and i think that's more than fair when you see how many no sales they have, that means they took in $130,000.

So if the 12.5% is all they're taking in, they grossed $16,250.

How much did their custom platform and website cost? Shipping costs besides labor? How much does their real-estate cost them, office, warehouse etc...

How many salaries have to be paid out of that. Graphic designers? Shippers? Customer service? How about the owner?

How many auctions do they run each year four? That's a gross profit of $65,000 that's not a business, that's a hobby. Out of that comes all the aforementioned expenses before any profit is made.

Again i'm waiting for any business owner to tell me that's a sustainable model. How many of you would be willing to work for $65,000 a year, let alone try and run a business off of it???

+1. There is a definite plus/minus factor to one person "boutique" auctions and multi-person organizations.