AH Blues

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by mechanicalman

If the same PSA 5 Cobb sells for $20k through PWCC and $20k through an auction house, the consignor will cash a check for north of $18k from PWCC and somewhere around $16.6k from the AH.

Apparently what you call it matters more to people than the math, Sam. So in your example the AH consignor isn't paying anything he's just taking in less money.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Apparently what you call it matters more to people than the math, Sam. So in your example the AH consignor isn't paying anything he's just taking in less money.

From now on I am mandating that I pay a 20% Sellers premium on my consignments and there will be NO buyers premium. Isn't that better now, Peter? The buyers won't be paying any fee now.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Leon

From now on I am mandating that I pay a 20% Sellers premium on my consignments and there will be NO buyers premium. Isn't that better now, Peter? The buyers won't be paying any fee now.

Rob will be thrilled that he won't have to pay a premium.

[Fballguy]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Rob will be thrilled that he won't have to pay a premium.

Still waiting to hear your answer Peter.

If it's all the same money...Why do we need a buyer's premium at all?

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

Still waiting to hear your answer Peter.

If it's all the same money...Why do we need a buyer's premium at all?

Maybe from an accounting perspective it makes it simpler to keep track of what you pay the consignor and what you keep, than having to calculate percentages of the hammer price in a seller's fee world, but I really don't know or care. You have to do it one way or the other and it comes out to the same thing. Unless of course you think AHs should not take in any money.

Why don't you explain to us why you, knowing a premium is going to be added to your bid and presumably taking that into account like the overwhelming majority of people, care what convention is used for the AH's cut?

[TanksAndSpartans]

Some auction houses now show the BP right in the dropdown when you make the bid which I think is a nice feature.

For the question of why to go with an eBay consigner, I don't think there is any question that it's because you get to keep more of the total amount the buyer pays. For a graded card from a popular set, the eBay route makes a lot of sense to me. For an item that's more of a niche collectable, I think it makes sense to go with the AH, with the hope they will be able to get the right eyeballs on it. Thinking of myself, I don't even bother to keep eBay searches on programs etc. stuff that I know rarely gets auctioned off on eBay - my graded card searches on the other hand turn up hits almost every day.

[RedsFan1941]

if i am correctly following the logic of at least one person, he would rather buy a card on the BST or eBay for $1,000 -- with no evil buyer's premium to deal with -- than get the same card for an $800 bid from an auction house, because it means the total price actually would be $960 with the BP?

[ejharrington]

I have a question I have been meaning to ask on this board and relates to the topic of this conversation. If I wanted to consign a high-priced item(s) with one of the big auction houses such as REA, Heritage, etc., do I:

a) pay a consignment fee PLUS the buyer's premium of, say, 20%,
b) a consignment fee ONLY,
c) ONLY the buyer's premium of, say, 20%.

Also, I have seen references to the big auction houses waiving or reducing fees for larger priced items. Are they waiving or reducing the consignment fee, the buyer's premium, and/or both? Also, is there an approximate dollar threshold that the AH's consider when determining whether to waive or reduce the fees?

I would appreciate any feedback that people could provide.

[Fballguy]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Maybe from an accounting perspective it makes it simpler to keep track of what you pay the consignor and what you keep, than having to calculate percentages of the hammer price in a seller's fee world, but I really don't know or care. You have to do it one way or the other and it comes out to the same thing. Unless of course you think AHs should not take in any money.

Why don't you explain to us why you, knowing a premium is going to be added to your bid and presumably taking that into account like the overwhelming majority of people, care what convention is used for the AH's cut?

You're making a bold assumption that every winning bid is suppressed by the exact amount of the buyer's premium in every instance. Dollar for dollar. Percentage point for percentage point. BP equals 20%...High bid is suppressed 20%. BP 10%...High bid supressed 10%.

While the BP does suppress bidding. I don't think it's close to a dollar for dollar match....and the discrepancy there is borne by the buyer...not the seller.

And therefore it's not the same. It's additional.

Except for you and a few of your cronies. Who abide by the 20% off rule when determining your high bid...every time...without fail.

[Orioles1954]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

Except for you and a few of your cronies. Who abide by the 20% off rule when determining your high bid...every time...without fail.

Comic gold!!!

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

You're making a bold assumption that every winning bid is suppressed by the exact amount of the buyer's premium in every instance. Dollar for dollar. Percentage point for percentage point. BP equals 20%...High bid is suppressed 20%. BP 10%...High bid supressed 10%.

While the BP does suppress bidding. I don't think it's close to a dollar for dollar match....and the discrepancy there is borne by the buyer...not the seller.

And therefore it's not the same. It's additional.

Except for you and a few of your cronies. Who abide by the 20% off rule when determining your high bid...every time...without fail.

It is never additional in my case. If I am willing to pay 1000 for a card, I will snipe at 1000 (including shipping) on Ebay. If I get the card fine, if not fine. With an AH, I see where the next position is. If it is under 1000(with BP and estimated shipping), I will place the bid. If it is more than 1000, I am done. It is really not that hard. I am not bidding 1000 and then being surprised that I have to pay 1200 plus shipping. It may not work out dollar for dollar, but it is pretty close.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

You're making a bold assumption that every winning bid is suppressed by the exact amount of the buyer's premium in every instance. Dollar for dollar. Percentage point for percentage point. BP equals 20%...High bid is suppressed 20%. BP 10%...High bid supressed 10%.

While the BP does suppress bidding. I don't think it's close to a dollar for dollar match....and the discrepancy there is borne by the buyer...not the seller.

And therefore it's not the same. It's additional.

Except for you and a few of your cronies. Who abide by the 20% off rule when determining your high bid...every time...without fail.

You raise up your head and you ask, "Is this where it is?"
And somebody points to you and says, "It's his"
And you say, "What's mine?" and somebody else says, "Well, what is?"
And you say, "Oh my God, am I here all alone?"
But something is happening and you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

[Fballguy]

Originally Posted by Leon

From now on I am mandating that I pay a 20% Sellers premium on my consignments and there will be NO buyers premium. Isn't that better now, Peter? The buyers won't be paying any fee now.

This is a great idea. If it's all going to work out the same in the end, why don't they do it.

There's that question again that nobody wants to answer.

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Apparently what you call it matters more to people than the math, Sam. So in your example the AH consignor isn't paying anything he's just taking in less money.

Very true, Peter. I also didn't take into account the many folks who want to spend $20K on a PSA 5 Cobb and bid that amount in an auction, only to receive a surprising bill for $24K.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by mechanicalman

Very true, Peter. I also didn't take into account the many folks who want to spend $20K on a PSA 5 Cobb and bid that amount in an auction, only to receive a surprising bill for $24K.

When that happens to me I get really pissed.