SUBJECT: BEWARE Steve Verkman, Keith Vari, Leland’s, Clean Sweep & Paragon auctions

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by raulus

From the AH statement posted by Leon, it sounds like the consignor will get the hammer price plus 60% of the BP?

If so, that seems like a pretty solid deal for the consignor.

Probably would be helpful to take a gander at that contract to see what it says.

If correct then it would seem to be a good deal for the consigned, but since there is also mention of having to charge an extra fee due to the amount of work involved, it seems unlikely the consigner would be getting the full hammer price plus 60% of the BP.

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

60/40 split of the whole deal or just buyer's premium? Believe OP thinks it's the whole deal. Which depending on the contents of the whole collection may be a fair deal. What OP should have done is take all the valuable cards and give those to the auction house for 100% + % of the BP (if possible). And then sell the rest as lot to wholesaler. 60/40 split of the whole collection on consignment at auction might come close. In Verkman's defense, hauling, storing, sorting, categorizing, marketing and selling someone's whole collection is a sh*t ton of work.

[oldjudge]

My interpretation is that the consignor is getting 60% of the hammer + buyers premium. If that is the case I think it is pretty shocking. My guess is that if in fact this is a six figure consignment that other auction houses like REA, LOTG, HA, Brockelman, etc would have given the consignor full hammer plus some BP points. That said, once you sign a contract that's it. People need to ask questions before they sign, not after. If it is a bad deal the consignor only has himself to blame.

[sflayank]

From the ops post
Sounds like..if everything sells for 100k
Hes getting 60k + 12k bp
If that's the case he's getting robbed
If he's getting 100k + 12k...hes doing fine
So we need clarity

[G1911]

I note the response post does not actually contradict the main 60/40 split claim, concedes there is some split "extra fee", and gives specifics of only the buyers premium discussed "over the phone", rather than the actual legal contract.

We need the contract for anyone to judge or evaluate, OP. If it is too big to upload, someone can help shrink the file sizes.

[sbfinley]

Originally Posted by sflayank

From the ops post
Sounds like..if everything sells for 100k
Hes getting 60k + 12k bp
If that's the case he's getting robbed
If he's getting 100k + 12k...hes doing fine
So we need clarity

The biggest item I’ve ever consigned was barely five figures so I’m pretty ignorant on the negotiations of larger consignments, but is 60% of BP realistic for collections this size? I’ve always assumed getting any large chunk of BP was reserved to ultra rare and ultra expensive items. (Ex: pages 1-5 of the REA catalog.)

[oldjudge]

Steve--My experience is that full hammer plus 60% of buyers premium is reserved for solidly six figure consignments. However, from Verkman's response it doesn't sound to me like that is what the original poster is getting.

[jingram058]

If this doesn't work out to OP's satisfaction, it would probably be best to speak with an attorney. With the potential monetary value/amount, that would probably be best. I am certain that this is not the case here, just speaking figuratively, but there many corporate charlatans out there just chomping at the bit to swindle someone out of something valuable.
One of my brothers in law is an attorney, and I can't tell you how many times he has gotten me, my sisters, and other family members out of situations that could have ended very badly for us.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Would someone truly kick him back 60 percent of the buyer's premium in addition to the hammer price on a deal like this? That hardly sounds like something anyone would need to justify by reference to how much work is involved. I would think not, and that the agreement is for a 60/40 split of the TOTAL proceeds as others have said, but I guess we will find out.