Selling through an auction house

I recently contacted an auction house about consigning an item and was a little surprised to find out they besides for the Buyer's Premium they also take a 15%-20% fee from the seller.

I am not familiar with the auction world. Is this standard? It ends up being roughly 35% of the total price paid which seems really high to me but maybe that's the "cost of doing business" and getting the marketing they provide...

Yes. They get it from both the buyer and seller. All auction houses work this way. You would think in doing this they would drop the fee they charge sellers, but no.

chromerookies said:

Yes. They get it from both the buyer and seller. All auction houses work this way. You would think in doing this they would drop the fee they charge sellers, but no.

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Good to know, thanks. They even tack on a processing fee and also take 45 days to pay. Makes eBay sound like a bargain...

unfortunately it does make ebay seem like a bargain and unless you have something really high in value (over $10K) then its better to just stick to ebay.

Not all AHs charge both a buyer's and a seller's fee. It also depends on what you are consigning (the amount of lots, how much work goes into listing them, etc).

If it's a high-end piece your best bet is probably Love of the Game Auctions. I know they do a lot of "no seller's fee" deals and even when they do, they try to keep it low (~5%).

If you're looking to move quantity of lower-tier level stuff, you could check out Sterling.

Arthur

I've got three lots in the current Huggins and Scott auction and they're only taking 10% on my end. Payment should be to me around no more than 30 days later. Fine with me as I'm in no hurry to get it. Personally, I like this route much better than dealing it all on eBay.

My brother had talked to a few auction houses (heritage and memory lane specifically) two years ago at the NSCC and I only remember them charging a buyer's premium in addition to the sales price. I don't recall them ever mentioning a seller's fee. they were willing to take the cards in hand immediately, thereby waiving any shipping costs he would have had to pay.

however, they were unable to guarantee a minimum sales price.

based on all this, and the card in question which was ~$3k, he decided to try his luck on ebay and ultimately found a buyer who met his price (net of ebay fees)

EDIT: memory is fuzzy, but I think some houses may "waive" seller fees depending on the card you want to consign, what the rest of their current consignment inventory looks like, and their estimated demand for that card. Clearly if it's a hard to find card they can justify reducing the seller's fee as an incentive to partner with them. They get the marketing buzz around that card and hopefully can make enough on the buyer's premium

Thanks for the info guys. It may be a good idea to get an auction house thread going because it's clear there's a ton of great info on these boards on the topic.

Actually the item(s) I am thinking of consigning are not cards. Besides for cardboard I have built up a bit of a rare Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Watterson collection and have been able to buy a couple of really nice C&H lots. There are not a ton of places that specifically sell newspaper comic items (many do comic books) so I'm not sure that I have a ton of options, but I now know that there is significant variation amongst rates, which is great to know. Thanks guys!

[MENTION=3417]Liberate Baltimore[/MENTION] to give a first hand answer as he works for a huge auction house

Topnotchsy said:

Thanks for the info guys. It may be a good idea to get an auction house thread going because it's clear there's a ton of great info on these boards on the topic.

Actually the item(s) I am thinking of consigning are not cards. Besides for cardboard I have built up a bit of a rare Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Watterson collection and have been able to buy a couple of really nice C&H lots. There are not a ton of places that specifically sell newspaper comic items (many do comic books) so I'm not sure that I have a ton of options, but I now know that there is significant variation amongst rates, which is great to know. Thanks guys!

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I'd look into Hake's. I always have a blast looking through all their categories and they get a ton of eyes on this type of stuff. All of their prices realized always seem strong too. Good luck with the sale no matter which route you take.

Arthur

Boo Radley said:

I'd look into Hake's. I always have a blast looking through all their categories and they get a ton of eyes on this type of stuff. All of their prices realized always seem strong too. Good luck with the sale no matter which route you take.

Arthur

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Mighty Bombjack introduced me to Hake's. It's one of the coolest auctions I have ever seen but it is a little broad for my liking. I had been looking at auctionscc.com since they have a section specifically for newspaper comic items. Will have to dig deeper. Thanks

Hello folks. I do work for a major auction house as a writer. I do not negotiate consignment fees or buyers premiums. However, consignment fees are negotiable based on 1.) the quality of material you consign and 2.) the quantity of quality material you consign. Obviously, the higher quality items you consign the less we need on the consignment fee. Many more folks are turning to auction houses because we pre-screen all bidders, have professional writers and photographers on staff, deal with all of the shipping and item questions and provide free marketing through our website, shows and advertisements. Frankly, e-bay can't compare to this for high-end items.

Liberate Baltimore said:

Hello folks. I do work for a major auction house as a writer. I do not negotiate consignment fees or buyers premiums. However, consignment fees are negotiable based on 1.) the quality of material you consign and 2.) the quantity of quality material you consign. Obviously, the higher quality items you consign the less we need on the consignment fee. Many more folks are turning to auction houses because we pre-screen all bidders, have professional writers and photographers on staff, deal with all of the shipping and item questions and provide free marketing through our website, shows and advertisements. Frankly, e-bay can't compare to this for high-end items.

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I think there's definitely a place for auction houses in the market, just trying to figure out whether my items belong there... I've been spending more and more time surfing auction houses looking for items and had thought that it might make sense to look in that direction to sell, but I'm not sure my items are the right fit.