[meteorite-list] Bonhams Auction Results

From: mexicodoug at aim.com <mexicodoug_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:58:45 -0500
Message-ID: <8CB26F805515E5E-17D4-16B2_at_WEBMAIL-MA18.sysops.aol.com>

Mike wrote:

"I paid $2000.00 for the 2 kilo sphere, now with seller premium, I lost
at least $200 and the time to mess with it."

Let's see, didn't you lose $560.00 if the $2000 is a hard figure?
Isn't there both a 20% premium on hammer for the buyer as well as a 20%
of hammer commission? Please correct this if it is wrong, but it
appears they 'earn' from both buyers and sellers. This is my
understanding:


seller gets $1,440
hammer price $1,800
sale price $2,160
with tax $2,333

don't even ask about shipping fees...

So, unless Mike was cut a special deal on his sphere and didn't have to
pay 20% seller-side commission of the hammer price, he lost $560 plus
the shipping fees to get it to the auction plus the hassle. May more
for cataloging and promotional fees. Of course, these fees are not
applied equally to all sellers in the auction. If you happen to know
who is administering the sale, they might give you a lower commision
under the radar. I didn't say under the table - it's just an auction,
not a moral venture.

Thus Udei Station's seller should have received per gram:
$ 1.32
sale price:
$ 1.98
with tax:
$ 2.14

The total markup of auction house on consigned goods at sellers risks
of providing, before tax, btw, is an even 50% if I a correctly
understanding the terms. Something to keep in mind when bellyaching
about ebay and Blood's Auction. This auction company took gross profit
off meteorites $14,708, assuming they charged everyone the 20% and
didn't cut special deals for preferred sellers. 25% of their profit
and the total auction sales in meteorites was the single LA002 Martian
lot.

All in all, the hammer came down on $ 36,769
The auction house technically grossed $ 14,708
But offered on the block (low end) $ 225,719

Total sold: 16.3% of offerings' value. WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Which should be compared to 22/40 lots sold (>half full?), the best
piece of news from a lackluster auction which the optimists can use as
a judge ...

Martin, you're right - all looks hunky-dory!
(Hey Martin's the only one that reads this, gotta get his attention)
Happy Holidays,
Doug
Sr. Businessman dreaming about free meteorites and nightmares of
hunters that pay for the pleasure






-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Farmer <meteoriteguy at yahoo.com>
To: Jason Utas <meteoritekid at gmail.com>; Meteorite-list
<meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>; mail at mhmeteorites.com
Sent: Sun, 7 Dec 2008 7:55 pm
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Bonhams Auction Results



Yes, however, the Esquel (mine) did not sell, it did not meet reserve.
I am sick
at these prices, I could have done better on ebay.
I paid $2000.00 for the 2 kilo sphere, now with seller premium, I lost
at least
$200 and the time to mess with it.
Mike


--- On Sun, 12/7/08, mail at mhmeteorites.com <mail at mhmeteorites.com>
wrote:

> From: mail at mhmeteorites.com <mail at mhmeteorites.com>
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Bonhams Auction Results
> To: "Jason Utas" <meteoritekid at gmail.com>, "Meteorite-list"
<meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Date: Sunday, December 7, 2008, 5:49 PM
> OMG - should have bid.
> Do these include the buyers premium?
> Matt
> Matt Morgan
> Mile High Meteorites
> http://www.mhmeteorites.com
> P.O. Box 151293
> Lakewood, CO 80215 USA
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Jason Utas" <meteoritekid at gmail.com>
>
> Date: Sun, 7 Dec 2008 16:17:18
> To:
> Meteorite-list<meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Bonhams Auction Results
>
>
> Hello All,
> I read through the legal print in the front of the catalog,
> and it
> looks like it's ok to post the results publicly.
>
> 1086 - 315g Gibeon Sphere - $475
> 1087 - 140g Gibeon Egg - $190
> 1088 - 490g Gibeon Slice - $375
> 1089 - 321g Gibeon Slice - Pass
> 1090 - 2 Gibeon Slices (281 + 262g) - $325
> 1091 - Gibeon Part-Slice $475
> 1092 - 552g Gibeon Slice - $400
> 1093 - 2.6kg Gibeon Cut Block - $1,700
> 1094 - 7,150g Gibeon Slice - $3.250 - Pass
> 1095 - 1,361g Muonionalusta End - $500
> 1096 - 136g Chinga Slice - $120
> 1097 - 494g Seymchan Slice - $425
> 1098 - 121g Udei Station End - $200 (!)
> 1099 - 276g New NWA Iron (silicated) slice - $600
> 1100 - "7lb" Sikhote Shrapnel - listed as
> "oriented" - $1,500
> 1101 - 1,304g Sikhote Individual - $2,900 (!)
> 1102 - 8kg Corroded Sikhote (*no* remaining fusion crust) -
> $6,500 - Pass
> 1103 - 334g Fukang Part-Slice (shattered crystals) - $3,750
> 1104 - 520g Esquel Part-Slice - $12,000
> 1105 - Pair of Campo Ends (206g and 430g, one silicated) -
> ~$400 -
> Pass (Passed at $400 for 600g of Campo....right)\
> 1106 - 1,886g Campo Indiv (nice) - $300
> 1107 - 3,146g Canyon Diablo (fairly nondescript) - $1,300
> 1108 - 42.5lb Campo (good shape, no glypts - corroded) -
> missed price
> 1109 - 1,220 lb butt-ugly Campo - $19,000
> 1110 - 127 lb Canyon Diablo - Special Note
> This iron looks great in the auction photo. It's not.
> The back of it
> was...ruined somehow. It looks like the owner sandblasted
> the back
> down to a quasi-3D widmanstatten surface, and then coated
> it in some
> sort of plastic/sealant that tinged it all (only the
> backside, but the
> entire backside) a nasty light-green hue, and gave it a
> smooth, shiny,
> plastic-ey look and feel. I don't know what the hell
> s/he did to it,
> but we decided ahead of time that we didn't want it, no
> matter the
> cost.
> That said - $18,000
> 1111 - 385g Slice of NWA 1941 L6 (the "blue" one
> Michael Farmer's been
> selling) - $950 (!)
> 1112 - 34mm diameter NWA XXX Sphere (no weight given,
> listed as NWA
> 869, but not NWA 869) - $350
> 1113 - 1,994g NWA XXX Sphere (4in diameter, again listed as
> NWA 869,
> but a different meteorite) - $1,800
> 1114 - 2.0g Murchison frag, no crust - $400 (!)
> 1115 - Arroyo Malo 75.1g - $500 (slightly less than $50/g)
> 1116 - Arroyo Malo 202.5g - $850 (again, somewhat less than
> $50/g)
> 1117 - Libyan Glass Pair (183g light + 77g dark) - missed
> the number,
> at least $400
> 1118 - 1,451g Libyan Glass (numerous large chips) - $1,400
> 1119 - Collection of Six Lunar and Martian Meteorites -
> 0.05g to
> 0.054g in weight - $1,800 (...I estimate its value, based
> on the
> specimens, their weights, and current market prices, at no
> more than
> $300)
> 1120 - Set of Five Medals w/ Meteorites
> (Campo/869/482/2995/2986) - $275
> 1121 - 1.85g DaG 476 Slice - $950
> 1122 - 2.718g NWA 4880 Sherg. Indiv. (broken) - $4,500 (!)
> 1123 - 5.85g of LA002 - $9,000 (!)
> 1124 - 90.5g Shergottite Indiv - Special Note
> This stone had a chip not pictured - just above and to the
> left of
> what would be visible in the photographs posted in the
> auction.It was
> a fresh chip - looked as though a curious nomad had knocked
> the corner
> (unfortunately the leading edge) off of it. Go figure. My
> only
> question regarding the stone was that the edge of the chip
> was painted
> black. It was definitely some sort of paint; not only was
> it less
> glossy and darker in colour than the rest of the stone,
> but...it
> rubbed off. The only possible explanation we could come up
> with was
> that it had been put on the stone so as to hide the edge of
> the chip
> in the auction photograph. It is visible in the photograph
> just to
> the left of the top of the stone as a thin edge of grey of
> a different
> hue (slightly) than the rest of the stone, running about
> half-way down
> that top-left side. It looks like a result of the lighting
> in the
> photo, but it's definitely not that...
> Very odd. - $30,000 - Pass
> 1125 - 1.3308g Dhofar 1428 Slice (Feldspathic IMB) - $1,600
> 1126 - 1.0064g DaG 400 Part-Slice (Anorthositic Breccia) -
> $1,400
>
> So...nothing -too- surprising. The low end was the Udei,
> at $1.67/g,
> and the high-end, well - a good few things. The bidders
> who went over
> market tended not to be meteorite enthusiasts; I heard a
> phone-bidder
> assuring her client that the $950 purchase of the $385g
> slice of NWA
> 1941 (L6) was a "very good deal." Granted, it
> was a nice slice, but
> if you take the 20% commission and 8% tax into account for
> it (and all
> other items), well...that Sikhote was nothing special, and
> it cost the
> buyer close to $4/g...
>
> It looked like the buyers generally went with what looked
> flashier or
> more interesting. The Murchison was listed as a piece of a
> comet, and
> the NWA 1941 was listed as the "Blue Galaxy
> Meteorite" - something
> like that. The better the listing made things sound, the
> more they
> fetched. Something like Udei, which looked particularly
> bad in their
> case, which, in all fairness, didn't have adequate
> lighting for such a
> specimen, attracted little-to-no attention from...anyone.
>
> Regards,
> Jason
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Received on Sun 07 Dec 2008 09:58:45 PM PST