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 Replies: 17 / Views: 1,342 |
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Valued Member
Italy
284 Posts |
Has anyone noticed the dreary message on HA? Quote:
Important Buyer's Premium Change Notice: Please note that for all World Coins auctions closing after January 1st, 2026, the Buyer's Premium is 22% (minimum $29)  Why is this happening?  Not happy one bit!  |
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Valued Member
United States
216 Posts |
BPs have been increasing for firms across the board since Covid. The days of 20% are coming to an end as everyone creeps towards 25% (with an additional 2-3% for live bidding, of course).
And don't forget how much more expensive shipping has become.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1887 Posts |
I would call that a buyer's penalty. It's similar to what we get from nearly every auction house nowadays. Their thanks for us supporting greedy businesses that thrive on our hobby addictions. The proverbial 'rock and a hard place': lose a desired item, or eat the fees. There is one high end outlet near me that charges almost thirty percent. Whattaya gonna do . .    |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
613 Posts |
Great Collections still charges between 10-12.5% Buyers premium.
DLRC (David Lawrence Rare Coins) charges no Buyers fees.
Edited by Freespeech57
12/20/2025 12:08 pm
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Valued Member
United States
216 Posts |
Quote:
Great Collections still charges between 10-12.5% Buyers premium.
DLRC (David Lawrence Rare Coins) charges no Buyers fees. I know the firms, but have never once seen either carry any coins in my field (15th century Europe). People like me are stuck with firms like MPO/HA Europe and others that follow market BP fees in lockstep. |
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Valued Member
 Italy
284 Posts |
I'm also wondering with World coins were singled out. Tariffs? More work to deal with them? Both doesn't make much sense.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
920 Posts |
It's not just world coins. It's all coins.
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Valued Member
United States
216 Posts |
Quote:
I'm also wondering with World coins were singled out. Tariffs? More work to deal with them? Both doesn't make much sense. They weren't. HA raised the juice to 22% in all of their auctions, including US. Also, tariffs are a non-issue, since those fees rest entirely with the US buyer. If I purchase a coin from MPO, I pay them & they ship it -- the transaction from their end is complete. It's US Customs who will hold my parcel (that I already paid for) until I pay them the tariff, after which they will release it to the US mail carrier. |
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Valued Member
Italy
284 Posts |
Thanks for pointing this out -- I hadn't noticed it and took the warning verbatim to only include World coins. In Europe some auction houses will do different fees depending on country of origin of the coin. Well, still not happy about spending that 2% more  |
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Valued Member
United States
216 Posts |
Quote:
Well, still not happy about spending that 2% more If you want to be even more depressed, pick up some old auction catalogs and look at what BPs used to be in decades past  (Hey mods, can we get a 'milking the cow' smiley or something here?) |
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Valued Member
United States
343 Posts |
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Moderator
 United States
94614 Posts |
all these massive price increases is damaging coin collecting for the 'common' folk.  |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5238 Posts |
Well, although auction houses do take the majority of the business, there is still stuff out there with local coin stores and coin shows. Don't give up on them.
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Moderator
United States
187446 Posts |
Quote:
all these massive price increases is damaging coin collecting for the 'common' folk. Make Coin Collecting the Hobby of (only) Kings Again. |
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Valued Member
Italy
284 Posts |
This was the reply from HA when asked about the price increase: Quote:
We very intentionally devote significant resources and a large percentage of our revenue into expanding the worldwide audience and market for all of our categories through extensive advertising; outreach; cross-promotion to our top clients (which include roughly half of the Forbes 400) from other Art, Luxury, Historical, and Collectibles categories; exhibitions and previews in our international offices; industry sponsorships; charity auctions; facilitating loans for museum and institutional shows; providing hi-res images from our archives for publications; assisting researchers; providing the most valuable archive of past sales that exists online to benefit collectors of all levels; and many other internal and collaborative projects. Our focus on reaching both new consignors and buyers through these efforts has led to an unprecedented amount of fresh to the market material, affording collectors a rare opportunity to acquire great items. As we grow, so does these efforts Honestly, not convinced. To me they could "cut expenses" in other areas before raising BPs. As an example, HA sends me around 4 paper pamphlets per year which I admit go into the paper bin as soon as they arrive. Wonder how many (international) collectors also get them and how much could be saved. Just this weekend I bid on an auction in Japan with 10% BP + 1% taxes. Edited by joe_77
02/07/2026 04:52 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1861 Posts |
--go with great collections--
Edited by mikev50
02/07/2026 11:07 am
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Replies: 17 / Views: 1,342 |
Posted 12/20/2025 10:24 am
