Heritage Buyers Premium

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

There are alternatives to consigning with a major AH for most cards.

What do you think are the best?

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

What do you think are the best?

There is no one best. It depends on your situation. Do you need to sell fast, what is in your collection, do you want cash, selling part(s) or whole collection, plus many many more things that make the "best" different for everyone.

[sb1]

Not all auctions charge 20-22% many are still at 15-18% which is less than you can sell it yourself for on ebay...

As someone else mentioned, the consignor and buyer premiums in our hobby/business are actually pretty low. Coins, Art, Exotic Hand bags, and many other items garner a 25% consignment fee AND 25% buyers fee.

[Gorditadogg]

Originally Posted by sb1

Not all auctions charge 20-22% many are still at 15-18% which is less than you can sell it yourself for on ebay...

As someone else mentioned, the consignor and buyer premiums in our hobby/business are actually pretty low. Coins, Art, Exotic Hand bags, and many other items garner a 25% consignment fee AND 25% buyers fee.

Well okay, sure. I have a friend who sells my old Tommy Bahama shirts on consignment and gives me half. I guess baseball cards are a better deal than that.

But I can sell my house for 8% or my car for $200. I am amazed it is so expensive to sell a baseball card. With all the improvements in technology it is easier than ever to take a picture of a card, post it online and get views.

[Snapolit1]

Other than auctions, in 2024 I found it very hard to sell anything for a # I was happy with. Including here. Most of my BST listings didn't get one offer.

You can see from much of the anecdotal evidence posted here that prices are fluid and unpredictable. One auction a card sells for $5200 and at an auction a month later the same card sells for $3300. Or it sells for $3300 and a month later it sells for $5200. Take your pick. Seems like the only way to figure out what the going rate is on any day/month is to put it in an auction and see what the market will bear.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

What do you think are the best?

Selling on the BST here seems to be a popular option. For stuff that is widely collected and desirable for this crowd, my guess is that you’ll routinely get full value for it here relatively quickly, and without selling costs, although some buyers will ask to share in those savings.

Seems like a lot of people also tout FB marketplace. I don’t have a FB account, so have never tried it, but I hear good things.

Working with a dealer for a private commission also seems like a decent option, particularly for stuff that has a more niche audience. I’m not familiar with the cost to sell this way, and I suspect it can vary widely depending on the dealer, depending on the piece and the volume of stuff you bring to the dealer. But I wouldn’t be surprised if you can often get a lower selling cost this way. And for stuff that is more exotic and not widely collected, your odds of getting your desired price are probably as good or maybe even better than rolling the dice on an auction.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by raulus

Selling on the BST here seems to be a popular option. For stuff that is widely collected and desirable for this crowd, my guess is that you’ll routinely get full value for it here relatively quickly, and without selling costs, although some buyers will ask to share in those savings.

Seems like a lot of people also tout FB marketplace. I don’t have a FB account, so have never tried it, but I hear good things.

Working with a dealer for a private commission also seems like a decent option, particularly for stuff that has a more niche audience. I’m not familiar with the cost to sell this way, and I suspect it can vary widely depending on the dealer, depending on the piece and the volume of stuff you bring to the dealer. But I wouldn’t be surprised if you can often get a lower selling cost this way. And for stuff that is more exotic and not widely collected, your odds of getting your desired price are probably as good or maybe even better than rolling the dice on an auction.

I don't do social media but I agree B/S/T, especially if you don't need to make a quick sale and have a good understanding of where a card should sell, can be a very good option. Much as people hate ebay, IMO there are some ebay sellers to whom consignment of non-elite cards can be a very convenient and attractive option. Let's face it, your typical commodity card is just not going to get, usually, some super premium price in an auction house that will offset the hit from the consignment premium and the delays in listing and payment.

[glchen]

The thing about everyone saying that they'll just adjust their max bids to take into account the extra 2% BP is that pretty much every time folks bid, they just bid the next minimum bid increment. Nobody is adjusting their next bid to be ~2% less. Therefore, in most cases, you will be paying an extra 2% for your winning bids.

[parkplace33]

25 and even 30 percent aren’t far behind. Man, auction houses have all the power these days.

[Rhotchkiss]

Originally Posted by parkplace33

25 and even 30 percent aren’t far behind. Man, auction houses have all the power these days.

Frankly, I think its quite the opposite -- consignors have the power. There are many options for selling stuff - privately, a broker, ebay, social media, and many auction houses to choose from. Its the competition to get consignments that likely has driven Heritage's BP from 20% to 22%.

Once upon a time, auction houses charged the consignor a fee, say 10%, and charged a 20% buyers premium. Today, only an ass clown pays a consignor fee and almost all consignors of anything reasonably material get a portion of the Buyers premium. And, it has become a race to the bottom on how much BP an AH gives up-- what used to be -5% is now -7% and -8% is now -10%; if Heritage wont give me X% of the BP on a $100k item, I can go to one of a half dozen of equally reputable and successful AH's and get that X%.

Therefore, today, AHs are making a smaller percentage of the final all-in price than in then past. The saving grace, however, is that they are selling more stuff and the hammer prices on stuff sold is 2x-4x++ more than it was "back in the day". Thus, AH's are getting a smaller portion of a much larger pie, which portion ends up being more than the larger portion of their smaller, historical pie, but only because prices are much higher.

How will this affect things? I doubt it will have any affect. As a buyer, I wont let 2% impact my decision to buy something. As a consignor, I will now expect more of the BP than before. So if prices don't change and I get more of the BP, this change could actually help consignors who have the leverage to negotiate some of the BP.

[parkplace33]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

Frankly, I think its quite the opposite -- consignors have the power. There are many options for selling stuff - privately, a broker, ebay, social media, and many auction houses to choose from. Its the competition to get consignments that likely has driven Heritage's BP from 20% to 22%.

Once upon a time, auction houses charged the consignor a fee, say 10%, and charged a 20% buyers premium. Today, only an ass clown pays a consignor fee and almost all consignors of anything reasonably material get a portion of the Buyers premium. And, it has become a race to the bottom on how much BP an AH gives up-- what used to be -5% is now -7% and -8% is now -10%; if Heritage wont give me X% of the BP on a $100k item, I can go to one of a half dozen of equally reputable and successful AH's and get that X%.

Therefore, today, AHs are making a smaller percentage of the final all-in price than in then past. The saving grace, however, is that they are selling more stuff and the hammer prices on stuff sold is 2x-4x++ more than it was "back in the day". Thus, AH's are getting a smaller portion of a much larger pie, which portion ends up being more than the larger portion of their smaller, historical pie, but only because prices are much higher.

How will this affect things? I doubt it will have any affect. As a buyer, I wont let 2% impact my decision to buy something. As a consignor, I will now expect more of the BP than before. So if prices don't change and I get more of the BP, this change could actually help consignors who have the leverage to negotiate some of the BP.

It will only be time until higher bps come out. You say consignors hold the power, yet I think ahs hold more power these days. And they will want to make more money, so as long as bidders don’t mind, keep upping the bp.

Trust me, 25 percent isn’t that far in the future.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by glchen

The thing about everyone saying that they'll just adjust their max bids to take into account the extra 2% BP is that pretty much every time folks bid, they just bid the next minimum bid increment. Nobody is adjusting their next bid to be ~2% less. Therefore, in most cases, you will be paying an extra 2% for your winning bids.

Good point; I think what people mean is that they will not make that next bid. Me, personally, I know that is BS. If I really want it for the personal collection, 2% is not a meaningful deterrent, especially at the relatively modest spending levels where I lurk. An extra $50 in context, BFD.

[parkplace33]

Originally Posted by raulus

Selling on the BST here seems to be a popular option. For stuff that is widely collected and desirable for this crowd, my guess is that you’ll routinely get full value for it here relatively quickly, and without selling costs, although some buyers will ask to share in those savings.

Seems like a lot of people also tout FB marketplace. I don’t have a FB account, so have never tried it, but I hear good things.

Working with a dealer for a private commission also seems like a decent option, particularly for stuff that has a more niche audience. I’m not familiar with the cost to sell this way, and I suspect it can vary widely depending on the dealer, depending on the piece and the volume of stuff you bring to the dealer. But I wouldn’t be surprised if you can often get a lower selling cost this way. And for stuff that is more exotic and not widely collected, your odds of getting your desired price are probably as good or maybe even better than rolling the dice on an auction.

There are definitely other options. I tend to sell card privately and have no issues selling.