[meteorite-list] Auction Questions

From: Count Deiro <countdeiro_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2012 23:57:42 -0700 (GMT-07:00)
Message-ID: <7496512.1344149863181.JavaMail.root_at_mswamui-andean.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

What a hoot!

Yinan Wang's coherent explanation of auction house operations should satisfy the complaints of any potential seller, or buyer. I can add to his descriptions by mentioning consignor's can set a minimum to protect themselves in most situations. That being the case,the auction company has a risk that not enough items will sell in order to cover costs and profits, so they may charge additional fees to cover that exposure.

What is a hoot.. is reading the whinings of our professional dealers claiming auction house greediness when they themselves practice the same techniques. I don't hear them shedding an ounce of compassion for the newbie's they sell .25 cent a gram OCs to for $5.00 a gram.

Auction houses are like used car salesman..they prefer to do business with the uninformed and emotionally driven buyer. I know because I earned my living in both fields of endeavor.

Count Deiro
INCA 3536


-----Original Message-----
>From: Yinan Wang <veomega at gmail.com>
>Sent: Aug 4, 2012 11:08 PM
>To: Michael Farmer <mike at meteoriteguy.com>
>Cc: METEORITE LIST <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Auction Questions
>
>I'm putting in my two cents on the pros of auctions; since I've been a
>consignor, buyer, and an employee in major auctions.
>
>Reasons to consign: One of the main reasons to consign something to a
>large auction house is that you have the potential to get several
>times what your piece is normally worth. The larger auction houses
>have literally tens of thousands of wealthy clients that you will not
>reach through normal methods. When several parties get into a bidding
>war, your piece sells quite well. I have found that 60% of the items I
>consign will sell, and out of those that sell, 1 out of 4 sells for
>significantly higher than I can get for it on the normal markets. I
>certainly have been burned on a few items but that's the risk you
>take, so the best thing is to make sure you're consigning enough
>pieces to mitigate potential losses.
>
>Reasons to bid: Even with the buyers premium, sometimes pieces from
>estates come up for auction that you cannot buy through normal
>channels. For example, last month I attended an auction of a
>collection of Victorian-era fossil pieces. Even with the buyers
>premium I got everything for 1/3 what it would normally sell for. So
>you can certainly find bargains.
>
>As for the buyers premium; the auction house is the middle men and
>they demand their cut for being the intermediary between the seller
>and the buyer. Without them in the deal, the seller would not be able
>to reach the buyers that the auction house knows, and the buyers would
>not have a trusted intermediary of cool stuff. The majority of these
>buyers do not shop on ebay, online, or at trade shows. They'll see
>something in an auction catalog that looks nice or has a good story
>and decide they want it.
>
>So yes, there are risks and benefits to auctions. It depends on the
>item you have and whether or not you're willing to gamble.
>
>-Yinan
>
>
>
>On Sat, Aug 4, 2012 at 10:30 AM, Michael Farmer <mike at meteoriteguy.com> wrote:
>> I have consigned some things to high end auction houses. I got screwed over hard. Between their fees and outrageous shipping costs, in the end I got scraps. Ever bought from them and had to have items shipped? I had a piece of Norton County shipped from New York, sent priority mail in flat rate box, poorly packaged and cost me almost $50 for $10 shipping. Not too pleased with epic level of rip-off. Of course the high buyers premiums kill the bidding most of the time yet i see suckers loving it. Some people relish the atmosphere of showing off in public by bidding when they could buy the item cheaper down the street......
>>
>> Michael Farmer
>>
>> Sent from my Ipad
>>
>> On Aug 4, 2012, at 7:20 AM, Adam Hupe <raremeteorites at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I can see where this gimmick comes into play. You received 100% of the hammer price but maybe only received 75% of the real price realized for the object. I can see where this sounds good to a seller but in reality the auction house is still receiving up to 40% of the real price the item sold for.
>>>
>>> This does help clear things up for me. The hammer price means very little when when a buyers premium is put into play. To me, it is a gimmick to mislead buyers and sellers into thinking they got a good deal. I wonder if this started out as a way to daze and confuse buyers and sellers?
>>>
>>> Kind Regards,
>>>
>>> Adam
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "peterscherff at rcn.com" <peterscherff at rcn.com>
>>> To: Adam Hupe <raremeteorites at yahoo.com>; Adam <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>>> Cc:
>>> Sent: Saturday, August 4, 2012 7:08 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Auction Questions
>>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I have sold stuff at auctions where I received 100% of the hammer price. The auction houses only cut was the buyers premium.
>>>
>>> Peter
>>>
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Received on Sun 05 Aug 2012 02:57:42 AM PDT