[meteorite-list] Auction Kings meteorite - $2000 Sikhote Alin

From: Adam Hupe <raremeteorites_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2012 08:30:50 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <1332516650.61982.YahooMailNeo_at_web162903.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>

A lot of buyers judge the price of collectable items from eBay.? EBay is
not known for fetching top dollar, especially on collectables.? A solid
auction house will almost always fetch more than what would be realized
on eBay.? The problem with many auction houses is that their commissions are out of line, some charging in excess of 40%! Then some fleece the
buyers with expensive shipping and handling fees.

Don't get me wrong, there are a few great auction companies out there, I have used some of them.? One problem I encountered is that if the item
doesn't sell or the buyer can't pay for the item after bidding on it,
then the seller can be out of some serious money including catalog and
no-sell fees.? They need to do a better job of vetting their bidders!

A lot of dealers don't bother with middle men anymore since they can get
wholesale prices right off of eBay.? Some specialty shops get most of
there product from eBay, mark it up considerably and put it on their
shelves. The problem is that a lot the collectable items offered on eBay have no expertise behind them and are accidentally or purposely
misrepresented.

There are reputable independent companies that can authenticate and paper
items so COAs? are important to me.? I wouldn't purchase a valuable
coin, baseball card or any other collectable without first seeing that
it has been papered through an independent grading and certificate
service.? A properly papered item will almost always bring in the big
bucks in an auction house whereas it may not do so well on eBay where
some dealers tend to print their own COAs and grade items themselves.

Kind Regards and Happy Collecting,

Adam
Received on Fri 23 Mar 2012 11:30:50 AM PDT