Posted 09/03/2007 6:54 pm
I understand that buyer's premiums seem onerous. But break it down and think about it. The fact is, public auctions (as opposed to ebay for instance) are venues. Most, if not all of the coins in an auction are consigned. So think of all the entities that need to make a profit for an auction to be worth setting up. The consignors want a profit; the buyers want a deal; the hotels whose conference rooms where the auctions are held want to make a profit. People who work for any of these entitities expect to be paid. And all that is in addition to the fact that the auction house seeks a profit. And profit is a good thing. That's why capitalism has ever been more successful than socialism.
Also, auctions houses have the best coins, and not always the most expensive. Sometimes, even with the buyers premium, you can get great deals because certain coins are underrated, or unplated, and they slip below the radar for some other reason. I've gotten many coins from Heritage and Stack's for much less than I've ever seen similar coins on ebay.
Also, auction houses are in the business - key word: business - of buying and selling other people's coins. There is a very high overhead in this business. Have you seen a Heritage or Stack's auction catalog? They are enormously expensive to produce, and everyone, even people who only occasionally bid in an auction, get those catalogs year long, free of charge. I know because I get them all year long and I've spent much, much less at public auctions than on ebay. And catalogs, by the way, are great places to learn about coins.
Also, the people who write those descriptions in those catalogs are experts who have been studying coins, in most cases, for decades. Minimum wage for them? Heritage catalogs have a $50 face value - sometimes, such as in the Money Show or one of the conventions that attract a lot of business, I've gotten three catalogs at a time (my favorites are usually Heritage "Platinum Night" sales, not one single coin of which I will ever have the money to buy) all free of charge; Stack's auction catalogs are great too; it costs $200 a year to subscribe to Stack's catalogs, and if you've seen these gorgeous books, you'd think that was cheap. Yet I probably spend less than $250-$300 a year at real (meaning not ebay) auctions, and all those catalogs are sent to me without charge.
Plus you have to rent an appropriate space in which to offer coins that sometimes cost millions of dollars. You have to be licensed and that costs lots of money. You have to pay the auctioneer, the cataloger, the people who man the phones and the internet, the insurance - can you imagine what the insurance costs just to allow people to view coins worth hundreds of thousands of dollars? You think all that should be free?
So, all in all, 15% seems very reasonable to me, considering everything it takes to get you to the coins that bore that premium. The key is, figure out what your bid is going to be after the premium, not before. Then there are no surprises. Other than sales tax, which in most places is zero because the auction house does business outside your state.
Also, auctions houses have the best coins, and not always the most expensive. Sometimes, even with the buyers premium, you can get great deals because certain coins are underrated, or unplated, and they slip below the radar for some other reason. I've gotten many coins from Heritage and Stack's for much less than I've ever seen similar coins on ebay.
Also, auction houses are in the business - key word: business - of buying and selling other people's coins. There is a very high overhead in this business. Have you seen a Heritage or Stack's auction catalog? They are enormously expensive to produce, and everyone, even people who only occasionally bid in an auction, get those catalogs year long, free of charge. I know because I get them all year long and I've spent much, much less at public auctions than on ebay. And catalogs, by the way, are great places to learn about coins.
Also, the people who write those descriptions in those catalogs are experts who have been studying coins, in most cases, for decades. Minimum wage for them? Heritage catalogs have a $50 face value - sometimes, such as in the Money Show or one of the conventions that attract a lot of business, I've gotten three catalogs at a time (my favorites are usually Heritage "Platinum Night" sales, not one single coin of which I will ever have the money to buy) all free of charge; Stack's auction catalogs are great too; it costs $200 a year to subscribe to Stack's catalogs, and if you've seen these gorgeous books, you'd think that was cheap. Yet I probably spend less than $250-$300 a year at real (meaning not ebay) auctions, and all those catalogs are sent to me without charge.
Plus you have to rent an appropriate space in which to offer coins that sometimes cost millions of dollars. You have to be licensed and that costs lots of money. You have to pay the auctioneer, the cataloger, the people who man the phones and the internet, the insurance - can you imagine what the insurance costs just to allow people to view coins worth hundreds of thousands of dollars? You think all that should be free?
So, all in all, 15% seems very reasonable to me, considering everything it takes to get you to the coins that bore that premium. The key is, figure out what your bid is going to be after the premium, not before. Then there are no surprises. Other than sales tax, which in most places is zero because the auction house does business outside your state.
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