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The crooked auction is the Auction Network which don't even post winning bids.
I am not sure why that is crooked. I have bid on items at Auction Network, successfully & unsuccessfully and when I have won, I have been happy with the purchase price.
My only observation is that from time to time, items with bids don't sell... don't hit reserve I assume...
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IF they start the bidding at 50% of trends, add in the tax and then the auction juice
I don't understand this comment... All product sold is subject to sales tax depending on both where the seller is and the tax rating of the item. Here in BC, .999 Silver is GST & PST free if priced as bullion, .925 is not but you only pay PST if the seller has a BC presence... CA & Auction Network are Ontario based and as such, PST free for me. I still pay GST if it is .925 or otherwise GST eligible. When I purchase from the US, from time to time I have tax, duty and brokerage fees to deal with.
Every auctioneer needs to get paid somehow. Some charge the seller a listing fee (
ebay), some charge the buyer a fee... some charge both. What is, or should be, clear is that the fees are listed up front so you know what you are getting into and set your bid limits appropriately. e.g. A basic Silver Maple Leaf can be purchased for $20 (rounded for easy numbers). With 18% buyer's premium, set your purchase cap at $16.95. If you win... great... if not... you haven't lost. The point is that the fees should be known and if you don't see the value... don't bid. In retail, you typically don't see the sellers' margin so you don't know if you are getting a good deal or not. I really don't care what the buyer's premium is... I look to see if the total cost is what I am prepared to pay for the item and bid accordingly. Heritage do a good job of reporting both the hammer price and the buyer's price as their premium is subject to a minimum and as such can change with the hammer value.
I have purchased a number of NCLT items at online auctions at 50% or less of issue price, Others, I have bid on have surpassed my maximum bid and as such, I didn't win. Never happy when you don't win but even less happy when you over-pay.
I can imagine, the situation would be different were I to sell and have to pay a seller's premium but I have not yet opened that door.
The one thing I truly don't understand about auctions is what appears to be the "Auction Fever" effect. I have seen unremarkable Gold Maple Leaf bullion coins go under the hammer for $1,800 - $2,400 US then with the addition of buyer's premiums... With online dealers such as
APMEX et al all selling bullion in numerous forms, why anyone would bid over the bullion dealer's prices is beyond me. You can buy a GML today online for $1,335US (credit card quantity 1). Why anyone would bid more than $1,130 on an auction site expecting to add an 18% premium is beyond me unless they are collecting a date set and that is the last key date for their collection.
Posted 10/13/2018 09:56 am
