3 impressive auction companies 1st results and the conclusion !
AZDAVY
Posts: 59 ✭✭✭
Way too late to do a road report on the Phoenix Ana, but I thought I would share my observations about three auction companies I dealt with.
I had saved up quite a bit of coins to put into auction, being that there is no mail cost that was a big motivator! Probably saved 250.00 in postage alone!
You folks that are near a Long Beach or Whitman show do not know how lucky you are to just drop off your coins.
No packaging , no boxes, no worry that my coins will be lost. Most of the coins I consigned were , franklins, lots of inexpensive old holder coins 50.00 to 500.00. Ranging from cents to dollars.
The first company I dropped off some coins was Great Collections. I consider them the “gold standard” of auction companies. In dealing with various auction companies I like being treated as a person and not a number. GC is great in their communications with you. I remember one time that I got a phone call from Ian on a Saturday after an email inquiry, wow! I do not expect that type of customer service and I hope Ian does not do that too much now because I worry about his work load😀. I dealt with Anna who was friendly and efficient. One week later my coins are being photographed and should be in an auction shortly. I asked for an advance and was notified 1 week later the check is in the mail. I also requested a “ name” auction as most of these coins are old holders and they agreed.
No fuss everything was handled very professionally.
The second company I dropped off some coins with was DLRC. I have never dealt with them in the past but I sold some franklins to them a few weeks before. I had sent an email inquiry if they wished to buy some coins and my prices. I got an email back from John Brush who said my prices were fair and he would buy them. Nice , quick and paid quickly. In the couple of emails I had with John he mentioned they do auctions ( I knew this already). I appreciated how quick my transaction with him was and told him I would drop off a few coins for consignment. I actually got to meet John in Phoenix who was very personable and a pleasure to deal with. My coins from a week ago are in their processing stage which I believe means they will be live next Friday. I think they do a very good job on photography and I like how they have prior auction results in their listings. One neat feature about their auctions are free shipping on auction winnings , I think that benefits both the consigner and the purchaser. Will see how the results pan out.
The third company I consigned with was legend auctions. I had purchase 50 some odd franklins a month ago and I did not want all of them going to one company. I felt spreading them around would be best for me. I had contacted legend 2 weeks before the show and liked some of their features for their new weekly auctions. Mostly having your coins processed and in an auction in one week, wow! And paYment in 10 days another wow! I mailed some coins to them a sprinkling of everything maybe only 15 coins. Well they got those coins in auction as fast as they said they would and as a bonus my meager consignment of 1500.00 was also being displayed at the show! Another Wow!
I must say I was extremely pleased with the results of that consignment. In my dealings with legend I dealt with
Jessica, her emails were quick pleasant and answered all of my questions. In meeting her in Phoenix she was equally professional and friendly with a customer that really only has a couple thousand dollar consignments. I definitely did not feel like a number with her. The coins I consigned in their weekly auction last friday were entered, photographed and placed in to their weekly auction last Friday! Another huge Wow! Jessica and legends were absolutely unbelievable, now in fairness their weekly auctions are very new for them, but if they can keep up that amazing service they should so very well.
Just my simple thoughts
Comments
Thanks for sharing your experience, glad to hear you're happy with the services that were provided!
Type Collector of U.S. Pre-33 Gold https://instagram.com/deplorable_dan Successful transactions with- @drfish, @Cladiator, @johnny010, @Pedzola, @PerryHall, @2windy2fish, @Ike1964, @JohnThePainter, @rpmsrpms, @REALGATOR
Glad to hear that you had a positive experience with all three. Just a suggestion but you might want to start a BST ad and provide links for the old holders, those are often very popular with collectors here.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
Neat!
I agree all three firms are top-notch in their fields.
The only item I'd add is to consider Heritage within that mix.
I've used them with success.
peacockcoins
They are off my list intentionally 😀. I like to be a person not a number with a company. No question they are massive and the big dog of the industry. I am just a small time customer.
Just my simple thoughts
It’s great that all three gave service that was above and beyond…they are all Great companies but the most important factor that you left out is the actual results ie which auction got you the most for the coins…so please don’t forget to post an update and let us all know how you made out with them?
Interesting.
A Heritage representative came to my residence north of San Diego (Heritage is/was also based out of Beverly Hills) and was kind and considerate and packaged well the consigned coins I had for them.
All promises were kept from start to finish.
I didn't feel like a number. I understand it can maybe feel like that as they are the largest and most successful in the industry. Then, on the other hand, I ask myself, why are they the largest and most successful?
They must be doing something right.
peacockcoins
I’ve had nothing but positive experiences with GC, HA, and SB. Never consigned with Legend because I can do a drop off living in So. Ca. I’ve never felt like a number with the big players.
Thanks for the report and I'm hope to read your results e.g. return on your investment percentage wise.
USAF (Ret.) 1985 - 2005. E-4B Aircraft Maintenance Crew Chief and Contracting Officer.
My current Registry sets:
✓ Everyman Mint State Carson City Morgan Dollars (1878 – 1893)
✓ Everyman Mint State Lincoln Cents (1909 – 1958)
✓ Morgan Dollar GSA Hoard (1878 – 1891)
Its a shame that there aren't more auction companies out there, we collectors need more of them.
There are a lot - Heritage, Stacks, GC, DLRC, eBay, Legend, Goldberg, Scotsman, GFRC, as well as a few other specialty firms. As a collector I can barely keep track of all the coins offered on all these venues.
Why do you think adding to the list would be beneficial?
Agree! I already can't keep up with the existing houses. Just GC and Heritage weekly auctions fill up my free time.
@AZDAVY... Thanks for an interesting account of your experiences with those auction companies. Good information and well written. Cheers, RickO
Info, all of my consigned coins are 30.00 to 400.00 coins . Nothing large.
My first results have come in. Legends has received, and listed my coins . The auction has also closed!
Unbelievable quickness on their part. On my 16 lot consignment I had 3 “wow” results. (Wow means I was shocked at the final price) . 6 good results. ( good means a bit more than I thought ). 3 fair results.( about what I thought) 1 ugh result(ugh means much lower than I thought). I had three lots that did not reach their minimum. All in all I was pleased with these results. The previous week I had a ten coin consignment with them and had wow results for nine of them. I was definitely very happy with those results. Not selling 3 of the lots( they had multiple coins in them) for me is just fine, as I don’t have to sell and would rather keep the coins than take a bath on them. I made a email Monday to have some coins sent back to me, some coins to regroup and lower the starting price and one coin to focus the photography on the reverse as it is colorfully toned.. they agreed to all requests. Another plus is I will receive a check next week as they pay in ten days! A giant plus as opposed to waiting a month to get paid.
The other 2 companies,
Gc had a much larger consignment of 55 individual lots. They also agreed to list the coins as a named collection. They have listed my consignment yesterday and the auction will close April 9. All very acceptable timing.
Dlrc the consignment has been received photographed and described and past price comparisons listed. Probably my coins will post to auction this Friday.
Will update this 3 auction Ana consignments observations as results come in.
Thanks for reading this.
I finally have the results for all the companies that I dropped off consignments at the Phoenix ANA show.. I have previously discussed Legends weekly auctions and their great results and quickness, to list and pay. Their check was deposited over a week ago!,
DLRC. I really thought John Brush was a quality individual and wanted to give them a try. I liked their photography. I liked their estimates and past auction results . I liked their web site. I liked how they offered free shipping to the auction winners. Perhaps it was the coins I consigned but my overall results were blah. I had two wow results with the auction price realized was higher than what I estimated. The rest were just low end of my estimates. Their fee of 15% of hammer and a 10.00 listing fee for consignments under 250.00 really work into your net proceeds. With 13 lots I owed them 130.00 off the top before any auction takes place with my total auction proceeds minus the 15% were 810.00. Subtracting the 130.00, left me with a total of 680.00. That equates to an auction fee of close to 37%. Now in all fairness I knew this going in but I really wanted to see how they performed. Call it tuition 😀. In the future consigning coins greater than 250.00 per lot is the only way to go.
Great Collections had my third consignment. They also had 48 separate lots and they gave me a named collection to boot! The auction concluded this past Sunday. ( so they were the slowest to list) But I will always trade a quick list for a name collection as it really helps the bidding on your coins. I have found that they are really good on old holder coins and seem to consistently get higher prices for them. My auction did not disappoint. With 48 different lots there were different results for different denominations . One area that did not perform well were the walkers. I have consigned old holders to them before and have got typically 20% plus sometimes even double the greysheet pricing.. not this Sunday,overall lower than expected. However other denominations more than made up for it. Mercury dimes very strong. Ms 63 Morgan’s generic but nice got 130.00 to 148.00 net to me. Wow.
Commemoratives also performed well. All in all I received 20 to 25%more than what I estimated.
Note this was a group that got less than 5000.00 total. As mentioned in their advertising they have low overall fees. 3.00 listing fee and something like 4%% sales fee? . They charge the purchaser 10 to 11%. Not bad overall.
In conclusion both Great Collections and Legends weekly auctions exceeded expectations.
Legends weekly auction is relatively new for,them. Their service, ( Jessica always returns emails promptly) their quickness to list , their results and payment in ten days can’t be beat. Great Collections is to me the gold standard but if legends can keep up with their outstanding service they will definitely be a player in the weekly auction business?
Good to know. I also like Great Collections. Never used Legend and did not know they handled smaller value items. I also have used Heritage. Yes, they are large and a bit impersonal, but that means lots of views.
Tom
Great report, thank you.
I will now only deal with Great Collections. I like the personal service I receive from them, easy to contact and talk to. The fee's are very reasonable for selling low dollar coins and anything over $1000 there is no sellers fee.
I've had a few bad experiences with Legends in the past so I don't deal with them anymore. They lost me as a customer.
Mike
My Indians
Danco Set
The information in this thread is super handy. Thanks for the detailed comments about these services. I’ve personally only used GC in the past, and was very satisfied with the communication and results. Great company from A to Z.
Dave