Does the REA auction pick up towards the end?

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

Auction houses tack on a buyer's premium (typically 20%) to the winning bid, so if the winning bid is $1,000 that's akin to placing a winning bid of $1,200 on eBay when you get the bill. Definitely something to be aware of before you place any serious bids with an auction house.

And don't forget to check beforehand if the winning bid will also be assessed state sales tax...it varies from auction house to auction house, and also can depend on what state you live in.

Brian

[Hordfest]

Wait...so auction houses charge the sellers a 25% consignment fee AND buyers a 20% fee? And then possibly sales tax on top?!! What a freaking racket. These auction houses are just wringing collectors dry and getting rich in the process.

How do they stay in business?!

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by Hordfest

Wait...so auction houses charge the sellers a 25% consignment fee AND buyers a 20% fee? And then possibly sales tax on top?!! What a freaking racket. These auction houses are just wringing collectors dry and getting rich in the process.

How do they stay in business?!

Do you think that they pocket the sales tax?

Breaking news: taxes collected are remitted to the state taxing authorities

[Hordfest]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Do you think that they pocket the sales tax?

Okay well that part is true of course lol. Not their fault about sales tax I suppose. I may have gotten a bit carried away in my surprise about 20% buyers premiums haha.

[Exhibitman]

Some pointers for the auction newbs:

1. As a consignor, if you have decent stuff most any AH will sell it for 0% commission--the Buyers Premium (aka the BP or the vig) is where they make their money, typically 20% of the hammer price. If you have a consignment and the AH demands a commission, take it to another AH. If your consignment is really valuable, most AH's will also give you a piece of the BP. Selling your Wagner, ask for 110%-115% of the hammer price and you will get it. 1988 Donruss set, not.

2. Read the rules for each auction.

3. Read the rules for each auction.

4. Some AH's have switched to flat rate shipping charges. REA and LOTG both do that for run of the mill card lots.

5. Read the rules for each auction.

6. Closing methods vary. The goal is to maximize the amounts bid on each lot: happy consignors = repeat consignors. There are various ways to handle it. Here are excerpts from REA and LOTG's rules:

LOTG: This auction closes using the "Double Overtime" method, with a 15-minute rule for the entire auction. In order to bid on an item during the extended bidding session beginning on the date of the auction close, you must place at least one bid on that item prior to 9:00 PM Eastern on the auction closing date. If you do not bid on it by 9PM Eastern on the closing date, you cannot bid on it afterward. To ensure that everyone gets a chance to bid, we will apply the 15-minute rule to the entire auction beginning at 9PM, with the clock resetting every 15 minutes. Bidding continues until no bids have been placed in the entire auction for a full 15-minute interval. As long as there is at least one lot that receives a bid during a 15-minute interval, the entire auction will extend for 15 minutes. Once a 15-minute interval passes without a bid on any item in the auction, the auction will close. At 1:00 AM Eastern, any item that has not received a bid for one hour or more will close without notice. The remaining items will enter "Double Overtime," with the 15-minute rule applied to the remaining lots.

REA: REA will continue to accept bids from qualified bidders after 9:00 PM EDT on all lots in the auction. IF YOU HAVE NOT BID ON AN ITEM BEFORE 9:00 PM EDT, YOU CANNOT BID ON IT AFTER 9:00 PM EDT. If, after 9:00 PM EDT, a period of 10 minutes passes without a bid on ANY lot in the entire auction, then the auction will close. Based on past auctions, this is unlikely, so if the auction continues to 12:00 AM Midnight EDT (technically the morning of Monday, April 25, 2022), each lot will switch to a 10-minute lot-by-lot closing. During this lot-by-lot closing, an individual 10-minute clock will appear on each lot page. A bid on a specific lot will cause the countdown clock to reset. If the countdown clock reaches zero, the lot will close.

7. Read the rules for each auction.

[marzoumanian]

As a consignor in the CURRENT auction, I thought it would help to provide you with an up-to-date review of bid patterns on my item.
First day, April 7, started out slow in the $50 increments. Continued the same on the 8th and 9th. And then NOTHING for three days. On the 12th it started up again in the same $50 bumps. It heated up, moving $700 in one day. Then nothing until the 14th. Suddenly, a $600 leap in ONE day. Holy cow! Then nothing at all for FOUR days. Now it is creeping up again in $100 moves, a couple of bids a day. Slowly.
You get the picture. This is the free market at work and the way it should be. As others have already mentioned, you will go to bed this Saturday night, noting the price your item rests at. When you wake up on Sunday morning you will be stunned. Guaranteed. If you are bidding you MUST be resolved to staying up late if you REALLY want an item. That's just the way the market is nowadays.
Peace.

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by marzoumanian

As a consignor in the CURRENT auction, I thought it would help to provide you with an up-to-date review of bid patterns on my item.
First day, April 7, started out slow in the $50 increments. Continued the same on the 8th and 9th. And then NOTHING for three days. On the 12th it started up again in the same $50 bumps. It heated up, moving $700 in one day. Then nothing until the 14th. Suddenly, a $600 leap in ONE day. Holy cow! Then nothing at all for FOUR days. Now it is creeping up again in $100 moves, a couple of bids a day. Slowly.
You get the picture. This is the free market at work and the way it should be. As others have already mentioned, you will go to bed this Saturday night, noting the price your item rests at. When you wake up on Sunday morning you will be stunned. Guaranteed. If you are bidding you MUST be resolved to staying up late if you REALLY want an item. That's just the way the market is nowadays.
Peace.

I also have exactly one item consigned in the auction. It received the opening bid on the first day and zero action since then. Looks like maybe they started it too high, but it went for 3x as much when they sold it in 2016. Win some, lose some I guess.

[BRoberts]

Originally Posted by Hordfest

Wait...so auction houses charge the sellers a 25% consignment fee AND buyers a 20% fee? And then possibly sales tax on top?!! What a freaking racket. These auction houses are just wringing collectors dry and getting rich in the process.

How do they stay in business?!

Troll.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by BRoberts

Troll.

I will find out. No one picked up and I didn't leave a message. Calls are easy...
My guess, and this is only a guess, he is young.

.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Leon

I will find out. No one picked up and I didn't leave a message. Calls are easy...
My guess, and this is only a guess, he is young.

.

I get that sense too, the AH process can be quite eye opening the first time you dip your toe in the water.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

I get that sense too, the AH process can be quite eye opening the first time you dip your toe in the water.

Edited to say the registration of the OP got worked out.
.

[Carter08]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

I get that sense too, the AH process can be quite eye opening the first time you dip your toe in the water.

This is very true. AH rules can seem overwhelming at first even though they are not.

[Hordfest]

Originally Posted by Leon

I will find out. No one picked up and I didn't leave a message. Calls are easy...
My guess, and this is only a guess, he is young.

.

I am not a troll. I am relatively young though. 32 and new to vintage baseball only because I inherited some 1930s Goudeys. I am learning as much as I can and you all have been very helpful. 3 of the cards I own are up for auction at REA in similar condition to mine so that's why I'm so curious about the process in case I should want to sell mine.

That being said, some auction houses do charge hefty fees, and there is a lot of tangible evidence of various auction houses and grading companies (See Heritage and WADA), working together to create speculative bubbles in collectibles. Just do some research about sealed, graded video games. There's a good documentary on YouTube about it.

Leon and I texted. All is well! Sorry if i came across as childish gentlemen.

[brianp-beme]

Here is the OP's first post on the forum...looks like some nice cards his grandfather had.

https://net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=318028

Brian

[Hordfest]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

Here is the OP's first post on the forum...looks like some nice cards his grandfather had.

https://net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=318028

Brian

Thanks Brian. Leon told me it's safe to scan them so I am going to probably create a new thread soon with scans of the better ones before I send them off to PSA through a trusted submitter. May send some to SGC but most have advised me to send to PSA for resale. I like the SGC tuxedo better though.

[jcmtiger]

Originally Posted by Hordfest

Wait...so auction houses charge the sellers a 25% consignment fee AND buyers a 20% fee? And then possibly sales tax on top?!! What a freaking racket. These auction houses are just wringing collectors dry and getting rich in the process.

How do they stay in business?!

Consignors (sellers can negotiate the consignment fee, depending on what your consigning, sometimes zero or anything less than the 25%.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by Hordfest

Wait...so auction houses charge the sellers a 25% consignment fee AND buyers a 20% fee? And then possibly sales tax on top?!! What a freaking racket. These auction houses are just wringing collectors dry and getting rich in the process.

How do they stay in business?!

First, the vast majority of businesses in the world make more than a 45% gross margin. 2nd, very few, if any, auction companies make a 45% gross margin. I can tell you ours is significantly lower than that number. Gross margin, if you are not aware, is NOT profit mind you it's merely the difference between what we take in and what we send to consignors. so out of that number we have to pay for the online platform or software, all of our employees, advertising, lease on our offices and warehouse, show fees and on and on.

If you are new to the board dig around a little you'll see plenty of stories of auctions that went bust, often after they actually stole from consignors. Why did they steal? likely because, like you, they thought running an auction was an easy path to instant riches. When they found out they were wrong and they couldn't pay the bills, they victimized their consignors.

[Hordfest]

Clearly my opinion is in the minority here. Maybe I'll change my mind as I get deeper into the hobby. For now, let's just say I'm a skeptic.

[Carter08]

Originally Posted by Hordfest

Clearly my opinion is in the minority here. Maybe I'll change my mind as I get deeper into the hobby. For now, let's just say I'm a skeptic.

Being a new collector myself, I can tell you from my personal perspective over the last few years that coming up with a deal outside of an auction house can and often does work out well. But auction houses for the most part ensure you a wide audience and tend to get top dollar. Although there’s a small chance you could consign what ends up being a steal for a bidder there’s just as much of a chance that you consign an item that ends up with an insane bidding war at the end and the item goes for more than you thought it would. Good luck with everything.

[glynparson]

Ffs

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

And don't forget to check beforehand if the winning bid will also be assessed state sales tax...it varies from auction house to auction house, and also can depend on what state you live in.

Brian

I thought that was the same with eBay. Do they charge sales tax for everyone?

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

I thought that was the same with eBay. Do they charge sales tax for everyone?

I believe Ebay switched over to tacking on sales tax to all buyers, no matter what the state, a couple of years ago.

I could be wrong about if it was implemented uniformly, or if buyers from some states still did not have sales tax added to their purchases.

Brian