Memory Lane Seller's Commission

thunderdan · May 19, 2010 2:38AM

Thinking of consigning a lot to ML for their summer auction. I was under the impression that for sizeable lots, they waived seller's commission or possibly even waive that + share part of the buyer's premium. The response I got was lots under $100K have a 10% seller's commission. Has anybody been able to negotiate something better than 10% seller's commission. 27.5% combined commission is rich, though ML does get great prices.

Griffins · May 19, 2010 2:43AM

Better off with Goodwin, at 0%. No hassles, no negotiation, always 0%

Ironmanfan · May 19, 2010 2:44AM

Not sure about waiving the commision, but I've had great success consigning items with them.....

bobbyw8469 · May 19, 2010 3:39AM

My consignments with them didn't do so hot, and I paid 10% comission....I was much more pleased with REA than I was ML as far as consignments go.

sagard · May 19, 2010 3:56AM

Keep negotiating. What kind of lot is it? Auction houses typically prey on first time submitters in my opinion.

Mickey71 · May 19, 2010 5:30AM

Crazy. I wouldn't use them.

packCollector · May 19, 2010 6:17AM

they wouldn't budge on 5% for a 5k card with me. thank goodness since they had another one in the auction and we both would have been killed with 2 in the same auction. I then sold it on ebay for 25% more than the 1 card got in their auction.

CollectorAtWork · May 19, 2010 7:42AM

Packcollector,

I am thinking about selling high value cards or sets (i.e., > 5000) on ebay, but wanted your advice on this because I haven't done this for such expensive items. (I don't want to consign b/c of the commission.) Is there anything in particular you do to protect yourselves from scamming buyers (besides look at feedback)? I'm especially worried b/c I read a thread here where someone sold a 2K card on ebay, that person cracked the slab, put another card in it, and then reported to ebay that item received was significantly different than advertised. Ebay then agreed with the buyer and automatically withdrew money from the seller's bank account. I want to avoid this from happening, so wondering if you had any words of advice here (or anyone else who has used ebay to sell expensive stuff).

Thanks!

Griffins · May 19, 2010 8:41AM

I've sold a few $10,000+ items on ebay, and never had a problem. For the most part the buyers turned out to be people I had dealt with before.
I've also had good luck listing on Net54- you save the 10% (more or less) that ebay and paypal charge.
The advantages are that you can set the price, change it either way if you need to, control the copy and images, and get paid much, much quicker.

thedutymon · May 19, 2010 9:57AM

Good Day,

Like Griffins I have sold several 10K+ items on E-bay and many many 1K-5K items. First rule in doing this is to Not, and mean Ever, accept payment through Paypal. I Only accept High Dollar payments outside of Paypal. There are several ways to do this with your Buyer. Usually on Hi Dollar items there has been contact with me before they ever drop the Hammer and I make it clear what my rules are ahead of time. I have never had a 2K plus Sale without some form of Pre Contact, usually to negotiate on price. When we do come to a deal I usually get a Cashiers check or some type of Certified funds and then still wait a few days and have my Banker contact the Financial clearing house for the transaction and do this even with Repeat Customers. I Never ship anything until I am assured of the item clearing. I have no issue with my Buyers being amiable to this, if it is a Legit Buyer of a Hi Dollar item they should have no problem with this and in fact other than a little anticipation on some of their parts, have never had no problem.
I have no particular Beef with Auction Houses but the fact that I can list something in my Store let it sit for however long and it Will sell and other than FVF's ALL of the money ends up in my Pocket!! Why pay sombody to do what you can do!!
Also, any and all High Dollar items are Shipped USPS Registered with an Additional Second Signature Delivery Confirmation. Have never had a problem this way. And what are they going to do, with no Paypal, No way to have those RICO Crooks (Paypal) be a party to you getting ripped off !!!!
And if you don't have a store, have you thought of just Consigning with somebody here, I take consignments as do many, and charge way way less than any Auction House?

Neil

hhmag70 · May 19, 2010 10:17AM

<< And what are they going to do, with no Paypal, No way to have those RICO Crooks (Paypal) be a party to you getting ripped off !!

Neil >>

Now that Ebay has stepped in with buyer protection, (does it matter if paid via paypal or not?), still got their hands in the mix with ruling against sellers.

thunderdan · May 19, 2010 10:48AM

Thanks for all the comments. I have sold cards on eBay in the 5-10K range each. I guess I had thought that a small lot of cards whose value was at or above that amount might qualify for 0% commission on ML. They won't come down so far. If 10% is the best they can do, I'll look elsewhere or sell myself.

weinhold · May 19, 2010 3:38PM

Dan, I recently negotiated a 5% Seller Commission with Memory Lane, down from their usual 10%. However, that may be only because I consigned some hobby behemoths - very high end, low population desirable cards.

If you have some material that meets those criteria in the future, you might state that as your basis for the reduced commission request.

As stated, Memory Lane often realizes terrific prices.

The above is in response to your initial inquiry. Additionally:

As "Griffins" states, it is hard to go wrong with Goodwin's 0% commission. Bill Goodwin does an excellent job marketing and describing his material. He has an impeccable reputation among those hobbyists whom I have associated with. Consider "going Goodwin" for certain material. If MLI sticks to their 10% commission, strongly consider Goodwin.

Blacklabelsociety · May 20, 2010 8:00PM

<< Good Day,

Like Griffins I have sold several 10K+ items on E-bay and many many 1K-5K items. First rule in doing this is to Not, and mean Ever, accept payment through Paypal. I Only accept High Dollar payments outside of Paypal. There are several ways to do this with your Buyer. Usually on Hi Dollar items there has been contact with me before they ever drop the Hammer and I make it clear what my rules are ahead of time. I have never had a 2K plus Sale without some form of Pre Contact, usually to negotiate on price. When we do come to a deal I usually get a Cashiers check or some type of Certified funds and then still wait a few days and have my Banker contact the Financial clearing house for the transaction and do this even with Repeat Customers. I Never ship anything until I am assured of the item clearing. I have no issue with my Buyers being amiable to this, if it is a Legit Buyer of a Hi Dollar item they should have no problem with this and in fact other than a little anticipation on some of their parts, have never had no problem.
I have no particular Beef with Auction Houses but the fact that I can list something in my Store let it sit for however long and it Will sell and other than FVF's ALL of the money ends up in my Pocket!! Why pay sombody to do what you can do!!
Also, any and all High Dollar items are Shipped USPS Registered with an Additional Second Signature Delivery Confirmation. Have never had a problem this way. And what are they going to do, with no Paypal, No way to have those RICO Crooks (Paypal) be a party to you getting ripped off !!!!
And if you don't have a store, have you thought of just Consigning with somebody here, I take consignments as do many, and charge way way less than any Auction House?

Neil >>

Being its against ebay rules to accept paper funds, i dont see how you can do this? If someone on ebay won a high dollar item and i emailed the buyer asking for a money order, i bet most would say forget it because without paypal in the mix they probably wouldnt bid. Legit buyers feel alot more comfortable paying with paypal.

Sportsamerica · May 20, 2010 9:30PM

<< 

<< Good Day,

Like Griffins I have sold several 10K+ items on E-bay and many many 1K-5K items. First rule in doing this is to Not, and mean Ever, accept payment through Paypal. I Only accept High Dollar payments outside of Paypal. There are several ways to do this with your Buyer. Usually on Hi Dollar items there has been contact with me before they ever drop the Hammer and I make it clear what my rules are ahead of time. I have never had a 2K plus Sale without some form of Pre Contact, usually to negotiate on price. When we do come to a deal I usually get a Cashiers check or some type of Certified funds and then still wait a few days and have my Banker contact the Financial clearing house for the transaction and do this even with Repeat Customers. I Never ship anything until I am assured of the item clearing. I have no issue with my Buyers being amiable to this, if it is a Legit Buyer of a Hi Dollar item they should have no problem with this and in fact other than a little anticipation on some of their parts, have never had no problem.
I have no particular Beef with Auction Houses but the fact that I can list something in my Store let it sit for however long and it Will sell and other than FVF's ALL of the money ends up in my Pocket!! Why pay sombody to do what you can do!!
Also, any and all High Dollar items are Shipped USPS Registered with an Additional Second Signature Delivery Confirmation. Have never had a problem this way. And what are they going to do, with no Paypal, No way to have those RICO Crooks (Paypal) be a party to you getting ripped off !!!!
And if you don't have a store, have you thought of just Consigning with somebody here, I take consignments as do many, and charge way way less than any Auction House?

Neil >>

Being its against ebay rules to accept paper funds, i dont see how you can do this? If someone on ebay won a high dollar item and i emailed the buyer asking for a money order, i bet most would say forget it because without paypal in the mix they probably wouldnt bid. Legit buyers feel alot more comfortable paying with paypal. >>

If you read he already had contact with the buyer in advance and told them no Paypal. Again.. any high dollar transaction if the person was legit, they have no issues with that.

WinPitcher · May 20, 2010 10:42PM

<< Being its against ebay rules to accept paper funds, >>

No it's not. It's simply against ebay policy to state in your auction that you do.

If a buyer contacts you and asks to pay via check, money order, cash or whatever paper instrument

you can accept.

Steve

Carew29 · May 20, 2010 10:56PM

CORRECT

Blacklabelsociety · May 21, 2010 9:51PM

<< 

<< Being its against ebay rules to accept paper funds, >>

No it's not. It's simply against ebay policy to state in your auction that you do.

If a buyer contacts you and asks to pay via check, money order, cash or whatever paper instrument

you can accept.

Steve >>

This may be true. But if the buyer clicks the buy button without contacting the seller first, then this is void.

CollectorAtWork · May 22, 2010 4:41AM

Thanks for the comments and advice, appreciate it. Will definitely consider what was said. And I'm pretty sure that you can pay off ebay with paper transaction. I don't think ebay cares. When you buy an item, you don't need to go through paypal, as you can pay another way, and just click on the item is already paid option to show that it's been paid. And I've read on other forums of people arranging payment with sellers for big items.

autographs101 · May 22, 2010 1:33PM

" am thinking about selling high value cards or sets (i.e., > 5000) on ebay, but wanted your advice on this because I haven't done this for such expensive items. (I don't want to consign b/c of the commission.) Is there anything in particular you do to protect yourselves from scamming buyers (besides look at feedback)? I'm especially worried b/c I read a thread here where someone sold a 2K card on ebay, that person cracked the slab, put another card in it, and then reported to ebay that item received was significantly different than advertised. Ebay then agreed with the buyer and automatically withdrew money from the seller's bank account. I want to avoid this from happening, so wondering if you had any words of advice here (or anyone else who has used ebay to sell expensive stuff).

Thanks!"

You are never 100% protected from People like that on ebay, it happens everyday on there. IM glad i opened My own website as i recently found out on one sale someone complained about the condition of an item which i new was Bogus, well i got an emial from PAYPAL which basically said Since it was an OFF Ebay transaction ( a purchase other then On ebay) They do not Honor significantly Not as Described Claims (they state that its a Difference of opinion) and they were not going to take any action. Only thing they will Honor is Item Not Recieved. I called paypal to verify this and they said yes and this goes for purchases on ANY SITE on the Interent if you make a purchase YOU CANT FILE A NOT AS DESCRIBED CLAIM (well you can but they wont honor it)

nightcrawler · May 22, 2010 8:56PM

I was the lucky high bidder on a ML auction once. But never twice.

earlycalguy · May 23, 2010 12:51AM

<< " am thinking about selling high value cards or sets (i.e., > 5000) on ebay, but wanted your advice on this because I haven't done this for such expensive items. (I don't want to consign b/c of the commission.) Is there anything in particular you do to protect yourselves from scamming buyers (besides look at feedback)? I'm especially worried b/c I read a thread here where someone sold a 2K card on ebay, that person cracked the slab, put another card in it, and then reported to ebay that item received was significantly different than advertised. Ebay then agreed with the buyer and automatically withdrew money from the seller's bank account. I want to avoid this from happening, so wondering if you had any words of advice here (or anyone else who has used ebay to sell expensive stuff).

Thanks!"

You are never 100% protected from People like that on ebay, it happens everyday on there. IM glad i opened My own website as i recently found out on one sale someone complained about the condition of an item which i new was Bogus, well i got an emial from PAYPAL which basically said Since it was an OFF Ebay transaction ( a purchase other then On ebay) They do not Honor significantly Not as Described Claims (they state that its a Difference of opinion) and they were not going to take any action. Only thing they will Honor is Item Not Recieved. I called paypal to verify this and they said yes and this goes for purchases on ANY SITE on the Interent if you make a purchase YOU CANT FILE A NOT AS DESCRIBED CLAIM (well you can but they wont honor it) >>

true, but if they used credit card when paying with paypal they can always take it up with their credit card and go for a refund thru them

SOM · May 23, 2010 5:52AM

If you've got an item worth less than $5K, put it on eBay yourself. If you have a really high-end, expensive item, contact Brent @ prewarcardcollector.com

He charges 10-12%, but he's worth every penny.

Nick

judgebuck · September 7, 2011 7:10AM

judgebuck · September 7, 2011 7:14AM

Anyone have any recent thoughts on Memory Lane commissions? They quoted me 10% commission on probably $3,500-5,000 for 8-10 cards. REA wasn't interested. Also, Goodwin's auctions don't get the same exposure as Memory Lane, do they?

bobbyw8469 · September 7, 2011 10:16AM

I would think Memory Lane and Goodwin both cull from the same lot of collectors.

TheBusiness · September 7, 2011 2:36PM

<< If you've got an item worth less than $5K, put it on eBay yourself. If you have a really high-end, expensive item, contact Brent @ prewarcardcollector.com

He charges 10-12%, but he's worth every penny.

Nick >>

Yeah, that sounds nice, but what do you do when some "buyer" files a SNAD claim and sends you back an empty box that was supposed to contain your $2,500 card? Until the morons at ebay decide to make it a reasonably safe place to sell, I won't be selling anything worth anywhere close to $5K on their site.

CollectorAtWork · September 7, 2011 4:31PM

FYI, I was able to consign with Heritage at 5% seller's commission with ~$5000 of items in their next Signature auction (not the weekly Sunday one). The higher value lots would go into their "Live" section and the others went into the "Extended" part. I'm assuming the Extended section gets limited description. This would be my first time consigning with Heritage, so looking to see how it goes. I've consigned in the past a couple of times with Goodwin, and have always been very happy with them.

leadoff4 · September 8, 2011 3:53AM

PWCC Auctions- Brent Huigens

JMDVM · September 8, 2011 2:31PM

I've done well with Huggins and Scott. They will agree to a 10% commission if your item sells for $1000 or more, 15% if it sells for less. They will work a better deal for very expensive items.

cardbender · September 8, 2011 4:23PM

You could try Greg Bussineau Cards in Michigan too (formerly Legacy Auctions).
He offers deals with zero % consignment rates on certain high dollar
items.

His auction catalog is not a phone book like some other vendors.
Less lots, all high quality stuff, your items will actually get seen and not lost in the shuffle.
He get's great results too. His website is very easy to use and has the super size
feature which is very helpful. He has super fair shipping rates and stellar packaging.
Best catalog in the hobby in my opinion too.

CollectorAtWork · September 8, 2011 6:17PM

Yes, Huggins and Scott gave me the same consignment offer as above: 10% on lots above $1000, and 15% on lots that don't reach 1000.

I also asked Hunt what their fees were, and they said:

15% for items that sell over $100
20% for items $51-$100
25% for items $1-$50

I also sent an email to Legendary, but they never replied to me.

miconelegacy · September 8, 2011 9:15PM

Probstein123. Contact Rick as his exposure and sales are incredible. We see weekly, sometimes daily members here posting how happy they are with the sales results. I sold a handful of cards over the last couple weeks over $1K per card and was very happy with the final sale price.

Just 5% for cards over $100, 10% for under $100.

GemMintAuctions · September 9, 2011 2:07PM

I just thought I'd jump in here and let you guys know that we charge ZERO seller's commission/consignment fees on any consigned lot valued at $500+ and pay up to 105% of the hammer price on high end lots. We also have one of the most extensive marketing plans of any hobby auction house and we pay our consignors immediately upon receiving payment. We're actively seeking consignments for our upcoming fall auction, so please give me a call or shoot me an email if you have anything you'd like to consign.

Best regards,

Kevin Carlson
Consignment Director
Gem Mint Auctions, Inc.
(626) 636-1328
Email: gemmintauctions@gmail.com

Memory Lane Seller's Commission

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