increase in auction buyers premium

[Exhibitman]

I may be in the minority here, but I don't begrudge the auctioneers their livings. Most of them perform a valued service for sellers and buyers on a contingent basis: no sale = no cost to the consignor. With the costs of eBay and Paypal to the casual [no store] seller running around 13% if the item sells, paying another 7% to the AH to take care of things like cataloging, scanning, fulfillment and collections is a no-brainer for me.

The other factor at work with BP rates is that many [most?] consignors now demand and are given 0% commission deals. There are enough auction alternatives that a consignor with halfway decent stuff can limit the AH's take to the BP. I walked away from one AH that wanted 5% commission on top of a 20% BP and placed my stuff with someone else who offered no commission deals. Some even give back a piece of the BP on higher outcomes. I think BST had a sign at the National with a list of BP nets for higher price sales and I think Probstein had one too.