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 Replies: 12 / Views: 5,275 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2480 Posts |
While browsing all kinds of coins for GTG and GTE I came across http://www.sixbid.com. There are several upcoming auctions, one closing today. There were many very interesting coins in a price range I was comfortable with. Most had no bids or only one bid. The estimated hammer price was encouraging; I looked forward to trying to get a few. I registered with sixbid. Upon looking closer, it seems they are just a website which lists upcoming auctions. The 'current bids' shown are not current at all. For instance, today's auction is through Pecunem. I went to Pecunem's website to see the actual listings and much to my dismay there were many many more bids than shown as 'current' on sixbid.com and some of the coins are already at almost ten times the estimated hammer price  Not sure what the purpose of sixbid.com is. Have any of you gone through sixbid.com or do you just go directly to the auction houses they compile? Edited by ThisIsFun
07/07/2013 05:43 am
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2893 Posts |
I find sixbid a very useful site for letting me know what auctions are happening. It's also fantastic for searching all those auctions when looking for a particular coin - rather than having to log into them all individually. When you find something you are interested in you naturally have to go to that particular auction site to bid. Most are European and most don't take Paypal some don't even take credit cards. Some don't seem to have English speakers in the office - and some aren't particularly good at responding to enquirers. So individually - it's a mixed bag - but sixbid is great at what it does.
EDIT - it's also worth noting that these are mostly big and well respected auction houses - pricy if you want to consign something for sale - and most will charge 10-20% hammer price (+VAT on that) in addition to your bid - so you must bid carefully.
Edited by Bacchus2
07/07/2013 06:27 am
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2480 Posts |
Thanks for the input on sixbid's utility.
I've never dealt with VAT before and am not sure what percent that adds. Pecunem's site is vague about that.
From googling, it looks like Germany's VAT is 19%? And Pecunem's buyer's fee is 10%.
If so, it looks like the cost if buying from the US is
(winning bid x 1.29) + shipping
Hmm.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2100 Posts |
Or even ((winning bid x 1.1) + shipping) x 1.19.
It depends if VAT is added to the buyer's fee and shipping....
It makes a difference.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2480 Posts |
Good point. I suspect they would charge VAT on at least the (bid x 1.1). amount rather than just the bid. I hope they wouldn't also charge it on the shipping. That just seems... wrong. Doesn't mean they don't do it, I guess.
So disappointed to see how high the bids are on some of the coins I was watching! Oh well.
Edited by ThisIsFun
07/07/2013 06:53 am
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2893 Posts |
I'm not sure about individual auctions - they may vary - but most auctions charge VAT on the buyers premium only. So A £100 coin would be £100 + (buyers fee say 20%) £20 + (VAT on the buyers fee say 20% of £20) + £4 = £124 total :)
There is an argument to be made that this is really another fee for the person who consigns the coin as a lot of bidders will take all those extras into account when bidding - but I suspect most bidders will "go high" because of the complication - so the auction house will be the biggest winner - not surprisingly.
Edited by Bacchus2
07/07/2013 09:25 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2480 Posts |
Frustrated... trying to enter a bid on a Pecunem coin right now and the website or some connection between here and there is not connecting. Grrrr. Guess I won't get that one...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2480 Posts |
Oh, YAY! After logging and out several times and watching various wheels spin without result, after hitting 'bid' and having nothing happen many times, I finally got a bid in with seconds to go and won. Between getting money to them and shipping it here, I bet it's 4-6+ weeks before I'll have it in hand. That's OK though.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2893 Posts |
Congratulations - Paying by bank transfer is by far the cheapest - I think they do take credit cards - but will charge a % for that.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2480 Posts |
Got the invoice and will do a bank transfer tomorrow. I don't see VAT on the invoice, just the 10% buyer's fee and surprisingly inexpensive FedEx shipping. Is VAT something that is collected upon delivery? Guess I'll find out soon enough. Ended up with two modest yet fabulous coins   Edited by ThisIsFun
07/07/2013 5:59 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2100 Posts |
Harumph. I get to pay the VAT on my win and it is as I suspected ...on the sum of the item, premium and the shipping.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2480 Posts |
Martin, you picked up a lot from Pecunem today? And the VAT was on your invoice? Interesting.
Wonder if we were bidding on any of the same coins.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
549 Posts |
I'm in Montana. Usually buyers in the US don't pay VAT. Last time I won in a Sunday auction from Pecunem I had a phone call that Monday from FedEx saying they had an envelope with customs for me and I would have to accept and fill out some paperwork describing what it was before they could send it on. I told them "No," I don't have to do that. The woman on the phone disagreed with me, and after I explained that ancient coins were not dutiable and yes, they were over 100 years old and no, they were not bullion, she reluctantly agreed to ship the coins without additional paperwork. I had them Wednesday! That was amazingly quick! Three days from Europe.
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Replies: 12 / Views: 5,275 |
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Posted 07/07/2013 06:46 am
