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 Replies: 15 / Views: 2,213 |
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Rest in Peace
United States
17900 Posts |
*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***
Just received the following email from Heritage:
Dear Buyer,
Please note that for all Coin & Currency auctions closing after August 11th, 2017, the Buyer's Premium will be 20% (minimum $19). Please direct any inquiries to 214-409-1150 or Bid@HA.com.
This was not a decision that we came to lightly. Heritage is a major player on the world auction stage, and our BP rates will now be competitive with the rest of the world's key auctioneers.
The Buyer's Premium for auctions in other categories will remain unchanged.
Sincerely,
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I, for one, really hate seeing another 2.5%. I just hope Great collections and Stacks/Bowers remain where they are.
Yech.
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Pillar of the Community
7234 Posts |
20% now? When will the madness end? They trying to keep up with ebay in their selling fees?  |
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Rest in Peace
10197 Posts |
I do on-line auctions all over the US. For some "vague" reason, those with the nicer, high dollar offerings will charge 20% BP, particularly in the "coin & currency" categories. Those auction houses offering the lower grades are 13-18%, 10% if local pickup. Glad I can't afford the "big boys" prices to begin with! The other "ouchie factor" is their shipping and handling fees which the "big boys" tend to inflate to the max. This is just one more way to make money through gouging the consuming customer. Welcome to "Kensian economics", democracy and social "Justice", folks.
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Rest in Peace
 United States
17900 Posts |
Anyone with any common sense is going to decide what they want to offer and divide by 1.20% if the fee is 20%, then deduct a little for the inflated postage costs, and that will give the final bid amount (as long as the $19 minimum is exceeded).
The only ones who suffer from this are the consignors, since their bids will be lower.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3478 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1431 Posts |
Greed.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3478 Posts |
Greed? Really? I'm tired of people whining about paying for a service that brings them top dollar for their items. If you don't want to pay the Heritage fees, ebay is always there for you. Oh, that's right, you want more for your sale than ebay can bring but that's not greed because it benefits you. |
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Valued Member
United States
338 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5255 Posts |
Well, if the fees seem too high, nobody has to bid. Anyone is free to search for a lower priced item, if one is to be found. @Moxking has a good point, that the higher fees do not necessarily mean that it will cost the buyer more.
Personally, when bidding on auctions, I do as @Moxking notes, and consider what I am prepared to pay, fees and shipping included.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
An somewhat cynical attempt to increase profits, and so (supposedly) benefit shareholders.
The reason why it is cynical is that most of the extra profit goes to increasing the incomes of senior executives.
A 'greedy' problem for all major companies around the World, especially in the banking system.
20 years ago, buyer premiums never even existed for numismatic auctioneers, only seller fees.
My response to this situation is to look at the lot estimates, and subtract the auctioneers total fees from them, before calculating my bids for lots I may be interested in.
Seems to work for me!
It just means that I end up buying fewer coins via public auction.
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Valued Member
United States
115 Posts |
I remember when the fee was 15%, never thought it would go any higher.
JFH
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1316 Posts |
Ouch. I know I have bid on fewer coins in the last year when it was raised to 17%. If the market will bare it, good for them, but I for one will be even more hesitant to hit that red button an extra time. Combine that 20% with sales tax and $10-12 for shipping and very few coins are worth it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1298 Posts |
I have a few "certificates" for free seller fees if I send these coins to Heritage for auction. But, I am thinking that some buyers will be turned off by the higher BP fees, therefore limiting the number of potential buyers for my coins. Make sense? Also, I would like to know if other "major players" like Stacks-Bowers and Legends tend to raise there BP's to be competitive with the rest of the world's "major players"? "Major players", really, give me a break!
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Rest in Peace
United States
2668 Posts |
I don't HA because I thought the BP was too high to begin with. No skin offen my nose. I have a couple of sites that I like, one at 0% and the other at 7.5%. Continue to shrink the buyer pool until only institutions are bidding.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1298 Posts |
Stacks-Bowers has raised there BP fees to 20% also.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4870 Posts |
What exactly is the purpose of a buyers premium at auctions?
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Replies: 15 / Views: 2,213 |
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Posted 08/08/2017 1:39 pm
