Why don't people submit their own photos for coins they are auctioning?

kranky

I can't even count how many times I've seen someone say that Company X has horrid photos of coins in their auctions, even to the point where people won't consider using a particular auction company because of their lack of good photos.

So why don't people arrange on their own to have good photos taken and submit them to the auction company to be used in the catalogs? That way you could use whatever company you wanted, without worrying that bad photos would hurt the results.

Even if the auction company wanted the right to have final say whether the photos are accurate representations of the coins, so what? Good photos would satisfy that requirement anyway. A consignor might even be able to negotiate a smaller commission for supplying the photos which ought to benefit the consignor overall.

And wouldn't there be an indeterminate advantage a consignor would have by having great photos in a catalog surrounded by so-so ones?

nwcs

Takes away the fee for getting the coin imaged from them.

kranky

If I had great coins, I'd want them to look their best in the catalog. And since everything is negotiable, why not that?

kieferscoins

<< <i>If I had great coins, I'd want them to look their best in the catalog. And since everything is negotiable, why not that? >>



Maybe that is not negotiable.

Cameron Kiefer

airplanenut

Perhaps so everything is consistent--they know what their pictures look like... if you take them, they have to scrutinize accuracy. Perhaps you edited the photo or used weird lighting to remove a problem--if they don't see it, they could be on the line for misrepresenting an item.

Jeremy

Barry

Has anyone ever asked them?

BTW, Kranky, the solution to your algebra problem is X = Heritage

mgoodm3

If you have a big enough collection that they really want to sell, you may be able to swing it.

KurtHorn

As far as catalogs go... they are also at the mercy of the printer. Even good pics can get messed up by a funky printer. And in the case of Heritage, once you're down at the Black and White level. It's a whole different talent to make a coin look good in Black and White.

Russ

<< <i><< If I had great coins, I'd want them to look their best in the catalog. And since everything is negotiable, why not that? >>

Maybe that is not negotiable.

Cameron Kiefer >>



On a multi-million dollar collection in this market, you can bet your ass it's negotiable.

Russ, NCNE

BuffQuarter

So why not go to an auction company that has good photos? If they're a high class company, wouldn't they have high class photographery? And if they don't, are they being cheap? And is it the other way around too. Theres a company on the west coast that has probably the best photography out there, but I wouldn't consign a thing to them. Then theres the company in TX that has the worst photography in the business yet I wouldn't consign to them because I wouldn't want my small collection to get buried in the 10s of thousands of lots in their phonebook sales. Whats a collector to do?

kranky

bump for the evening crew.

Longacre

As crazy as this sounds, do you think the auction companies are concerned with "consistency" and their product image (even though everyone might agree that their photos are not the best). What I mean is that each auction company's catalog has a "look and feel", and they might be concerned that it would be lost if different pictures are used for different auctions, and even worse, for different consignor's lots.

badger

Part of the service from the auction house should be auctioning soup to nuts. Photos are a key element and should be high quality. I think the photo are generally good for catalogue sales, but the on-line photos are not consistent. I do believe that Teletrade does a very good job on photos. I also think that marketing assistance / guidance is key. I will be auctioning a high grade proof set shortly and am trying to take it slow to understand the value the auction house brings to the party.