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

[Snapolit1]

Some obvious stupid negligence to gripe about is one thing, but not sure this is the best forum to trot out one side of a full blown breach of contract dispute.

Originally Posted by Gorditadogg

You know, the poster wasn't even a member on this board. It was his first post. Most of us are very sympathetic to anyone's complaints on here, whether it's about evil Ebay, corrupt FedEx or big uncaring auction houses.

Usually you get some insight behind the posts. If it's James, he's just letting off steam, if it's Yoda, he probably forgot his meds. But this is some random newbie poster looking to flame some well known AHs.

I don't see where he has any rights to broadcast on our forum. The thread is entertaining to me, but I am surprised that Leon allowed it in the first place.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Some obvious stupid negligence to gripe about is one thing, but not sure this is the best forum to trot out one side of a full blown breach of contract dispute.

Is this really a breach of contract dispute? More like a dispute about the fairness of the contract, but I don't think there's been any claim that the terms of the contract have been breached.

[Directly]

Was this 1805 signed document to trade a couple horses for some land a legal deal/document--a few years ago my father bought some land in Texas, Paid the man, signed all the legal documents etc. After the fact the seller thought he could have got more--and took my father to court to break-up the agreement. -- a deals a deal isn't it?

[BobbyStrawberry]

I haven't had any personal interaction with the parties involved, but it sure seems like OP ended up with a very bad deal. I can't imagine getting only 60% of the proceeds of my collection from an AH.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

I haven't had any personal interaction with the parties involved, but it sure seems like OP ended up with a very bad deal. I can't imagine getting only 60% of the proceeds of my collection from an AH.

Say you have an item with a fmv of $1000 and you consign it to an ah with a 20% bp and a 20% consignor fee. If a buyer is willing to pay fmv, that would but his high bid at $833 and change. Then 80% of that would be the consignor’s cut…in this case $666, or 67%. So 60% of the hammer, plus a cut of the bp, plus help with grading fees seem about right to me…but what do I know.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by conor912

Say you have an item with a fmv of $1000 and you consign it to an ah with a 20% bp and a 20% consignor fee. If a buyer is willing to pay fmv, that would but his high bid at $833 and change. Then 80% of that would be the consignor’s cut…in this case $666, or 67%. So 60% of the hammer, plus a cut of the bp, plus help with grading fees seem about right to me…but what do I know.

Nobody charges seller's fees any more, do they? At least not in the sports auction biz.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Nobody charges seller's fees any more, do they? At least not in the sports auction biz.

Well that’s the best thing I’ve heard in a while!

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by conor912

Well that’s the best thing I’ve heard in a while!

Nobody consigns anymore, its too busy

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Nobody charges seller's fees any more, do they? At least not in the sports auction biz.

Considering the OP posted a screenshot from the Clean Sweep website saying the following - "We charge a 10% commission on all items that sell for $500 or more and 15% for lots that sell for under $500." - I'm not sure that's an accurate statement. Maybe on items of high enough value it's true, but probably not in general for everything.

[gunboat82]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Nobody charges seller's fees any more, do they? At least not in the sports auction biz.

Last year, I reached out to Huggins & Scott to inquire about consigning these cards:

1928 Tharp's Ice Cream Babe Ruth #6 (Throwing) SGC 1
1928 Tharp's Ice Cream Lou Gehrig #26 SGC 35 (2.5)
1933 George C. Miller Jimmie Foxx SGC 1.5

I was told that their standard commission is 20% from the seller (on top of the 20% buyer's premium they receive), but they would reduce my fees to 5% only if I gave them all three cards to sell.

Originally Posted by Huggins Rep

It’s our posted standard commission. Given the quality of the three items and being a first time consignor; we would offer to reduce your rate to 5%. Certain collections require a higher commission than others. Several variables go into what commission we offer sellers, which is a case by case basis.

Someone from SCP Auctions reached out to me unsolicited on this site and tried to get me to consign through him with a 10% consignor fee (down from his standard 15%), leaving me with only 90% of the hammer price:

Originally Posted by SCP Rep

Standard is 15%, but in this price range, have been able to get that down to 10%. Even lower if very high priced cards. Got 5% for a 52 Mantle SGC 2, for example

Originally Posted by Gunboat82

To be clear, that's a 10-15% seller's commission on top of the buyer's premium?

Originally Posted by SCP Rep

10% max when working with me. And yes, i was only quoting you what comes out of your proceeds. The buyers premium is where SCP makes its money, promarily, which is why zero sellers commissions are fine when price of item is high enough

So, yes, there are auction houses charging seller fees if they can get away with it, even for marketable cards that are already graded/authenticated.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by gunboat82

Last year, I reached out to Huggins & Scott to inquire about consigning these cards:

1928 Tharp's Ice Cream Babe Ruth #6 (Throwing) SGC 1
1928 Tharp's Ice Cream Lou Gehrig #26 SGC 35 (2.5)
1933 George C. Miller Jimmie Foxx SGC 1.5

I was told that their standard commission is 20% from the seller (on top of the 20% buyer's premium they receive), but they would reduce my fees to 5% only if I gave them all three cards to sell.



Someone from SCP Auctions reached out to me unsolicited on this site and tried to get me to consign through him with a 10% consignor fee (down from his standard 15%), leaving me with only 90% of the hammer price:







So, yes, there are auction houses charging seller fees if they can get away with it, even for marketable cards that are already graded/authenticated.

Thanks for posting some actual information about what AHs charge for commissions. Clearly it's negotiable so contacting multiple AHs makes sense. So many people like to say that sellers shouldn't pay anything to an AH, but that doesn't look to be accurate unless you have a very high priced or highly desirable item.