Heritage Auction 19.5% Buyers fee

[RKGIBSON]

I got a email from Heritage informing about the end of their current auction. Reading down I noticed a 19.5% buyers premium. Is this new? I thought the 17% was unreasonable that some of the houses went to last year. I'll have to think real hard about getting into a competitive bidding and then getting hammered for 19.5%.

Roger

[Oil Can Dan]

As long as they spell out what their charges are ahead of time I can't see how anyone can have a complaint.

That said, I've never understood what that 17.5%+ charge is all about. I (and we) pay it, but why? I understand the procedures and policies ahead of time so I'm not crying foul, but I personally feel that these charges are more than a tad higher than they should be. And if the driver behind that 17.5%+ is to cover costs, then why is that 17.5% the same for a $15,000 autographed ball as it is for a $1,500? Was it tougher to manage the $15,000 balll?

Bottom line? I'm at the mercy of the auction house & their policy, and I get that. We're all basically there. But for around 20% or so of the sell price I sort of expect a tad more than a nice catelog & email every time they market their next auction. I bet there's a lot more to it, but from what I can see the major auction houses are charging 17.5%+ BECAUSE THEY CAN.

[scottanservitz]

I have bid a couple times in these auctions and included that 17.5% into my bids. Luckily I never won. I will not bid in these auctions again. I know they sometimes have the real rare piece that I would love to have. But I would much rather spend the money here or with somebody who does not charge the premium. I think they may be pricing themselves out of a lot of business in the long run. But then again, people do bid and they must be making a profit or they would have been gone a long time ago. Oh well. Atleast it is not my money they are making their profits from.
Scott

[RKGIBSON]

I'm not crying foul. The auction business, I'm sure, has been good the last few years. Good items used to show up on ebay but now only in auctions. I have to admit, the auction houses is where my stuff goes. I guess what I am saying, is why get greedy. I understand eveyone has to make money to stay in business. If you tally up the buyer & seller fee I just think that 30% is more than enough. I initially thought the 17% was to cover credit cards being used to pay.

Roger

[ripkengamers]

This is the same type of thinking which drives me nuts.........I just finished posting 2 great game used bats and a game used base of Cal Ripken on ebay and the auctions ended without any bids.........I purposely set the prices which I felt were very reasonable since no COA's were provided. I thought I would save myself the hassle of sending them in to a major auction house, dealing with consignors fees, and waiting for a check to arrive in the mail. I would have thought that anyone wishing to save themselves a lot of money would take the opportunity to purchase these items; they could take the money they saved and send them in for authentication and still save themselves a boat load of money in lieu of having to pay buyers fees if they purchased them from an auction house. Anyone who has dealt with me knows my credibility and could be assured they're money would be refunded if the authentation was not valid. Now I WILL send them to an auction house and probably make more money than I would have on eBay..............if someone wants to pay 15%-19.5% in buyes fees so be it!

[Frank]

Yeah, the fees on some of the auction houses do get ridiculous.

[worldchamps]

I have searched Heritage website as well as this one, and I have not been able to find what commission a seller has to pay to put an item in Heritage Auctions?

can anyone be of assistance to me on this?

Thanks
Bill