Heritage vs Robert Edward to consign

[Stampsfan]

I consigned a couple of items that garnered 4 figure bids, for the first time with Heritage in their November 2015 major auction. A couple of comments...
1. The communication beforehand was, to say the least, mediocre. I had to track them down a few times before we settled everything. I'm guessing my $1,500-$5,000 items were not too important, when compared to half a million dollar '52 Topps Mantle cards.
2. It took until Christmas before the mailed out the cheques; I got the cheque between Christmas and New Years. So 7-8 weeks later approximately.
3. They charged me a few hundred dollars for "authentication fees". None of this was ever discussed beforehand, and I only found out about these additional fees (not included in the 15% consignment fees) when the cheque arrived and it was documented. Frustrating, because one of the LOA's I had was directly from the 49ers; there was no need for an additional Heritage LOA that they charged me for.

Full disclosure... I have zero consignment experience with REA.