What is the point of the "Buyer's Premium"?

[Ray Van]

Originally Posted by Fullerton

The buyer's premium does seem like a psychological "trick", but it is based more on enabling more clear cut record keeping of actual sale price of an item regardless of auction house and its fees. Historical auction records are relied on for appraisals and insurance.

Maybe I misunderstand but I take the opposite view. At best is doesn't make a difference and at worst it actually confuses the issue rather than making it clear cut. Appraisals are based on fair market value and include buyer's premiums. So if no auction houses charged a BP, then we'd have an even playing field. Plus I'm not sure if all AH's post completed prices including BP, so an appraiser might be comparing apples and oranges as they research historical prices to determine FMV.

[brianp-beme]

When I win an auction lot I never pay the Buyer's Premium, just the winning amount and shipping. Surprisingly, and so far without fail, the auction house sends back my money and never ships the card(s). And perhaps coincidentally, my bids are not accepted in future auctions either.

Brian

[brianp-beme]

But seriously, I remember reading an article by Lew Lipset in his Old Judge newsletter from the mid to late 1980's (?) detailing the shift of auction houses from charging a larger seller's commission to charging a buyer's premium, which evidently was not standard for auction houses at the time. I think back in the day auction places were traditionally dealer/collectors that were auctioning their accumulations, and therefore a seller's premium obviously made no sense, but would of course charge you for the privilege of consigning cards. I remember the article identified the shift to following the example of art auction houses, who had established the practice of a charging a Buyer's Premium with less emphasis on Seller's Premium so as to attract the higher value consignments.

I guess it was just a natural progression for sports auction houses to follow this lead, as cards and memorabilia became more of a commodity.

Brian

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

When I win an auction lot I never pay the Buyer's Premium, just the winning amount and shipping. Surprisingly, and so far without fail, the auction house sends back my money and never ships the card(s). And perhaps coincidentally, my bids are not accepted in future auctions either.

Brian

This post was the dumbest post in this dumb thread, in a sneakily dumb smart way.

Brian