Negotiating Auction House Seller Premiums

proofer2

In general, how high a dollar value collection do you need before auction houses will start negotiating below what's stated? Thanks for any info

diamondman

<< <i>In general, how high a dollar value collection do you need before auction houses will start negotiating below what's stated? Thanks for any info >>



Don't you mean sellers premium? if you are planing on selling your collection I would think anything over 20,000, there would be no fees.

since buyers premium is based on how many items you win at the auction?

proofer2

I'm sorry, you're correct about the buyer's premium. I like 0%. So there reallly is no advantage selling high dollar items though EBAY

Mickey71

Proofer,
With the 17.5-20% the auction houses charge for buyers premiums...there can be a big advantage when you sell on EBAY. Also, in regards to buyers premium there is no such thing as 0% and you can bet that the buyer takes this into account when bidding. If it's a monster item 10,000 + you might feel good about the added security of an auction house////I think (some auction houses have had problems in the past- and they were the biggest of them all).

Mickey71

Smuggo

Anything that factors into a buyer's cost affects the seller's yield. I bid 17.5% less since I have to pay 17.5% premium, you get less. Buyer's are only willing to pay so much. The house has to be able to survive. To be able to offer no-cost selling they have moved all the costs to the buyer which generally still yields less to the seller in the end. Same game, the peas are just all under one shell now.

Now at the auction house you have several sets of eyes on your item potentially and that may help to drive prices up somewhat. Personally I think all of the major houses have basically the same pool of bidders and most are on ebay as well.

proofer2

So I suppose that if you could sell at an auction house with a buyer premium below 6 or 7% and given EBAY/paypal fees, the hammer may only have to match the price you get on EBAY to do better...I actually think you can squeeze out a higher hammer than EBAY on most high end items

smtjoy

A number of houses have 0% sellers fees, I know Goodwin and B&L to name two. I know a few others that offer 0% for any single graded card over 1k. I would guess if you total collection is worth 10k + you should be able to get 0% from all but REA.

On where to sell, I think you need to consider both sides -

If you are selling on ebay expect to pay around 10-13% sellers fees.

If you are selling thru an auction house expect the buyers to pay between 12-20% (their bids will reflect this).

So ebay generally does have a slight cost advantage but you will also have to spend more of you time selling on ebay (scanning, making listings, packaging and mailing) vs letting the auction house do it for you.

IMO I prefer to buy/sell expensive 1k plus cards from an auction house, things like CC charge backs and bad ebay sellers make me stay away for all but the most reputed ebay sellers.

For all lower price items I find ebay a much better option, just more work for you.

An ebay consignment house is another solid choice for selling.

proofer2

I think you hit on a very good point. There may be a premium that a buyer is willing to pay through an auction house to avoid the hassle of CC charge backs and bad sellers. That would explain, at least from my perspective, why high end cards seem to sell at a premium through an AH

Mickey71

You will not find buyers premiums at 6%.

otwcards

The biggest thing to keep in mind is what is the scarcity of the item you plan to offer?

Select auction houses, akin to REA, have a clientele that will, in many instances, pay prices in excess of what you will see if you were to eBay the item regardless of the buyer's premium. Assuming that the seller was able to negotiate a 0% commission, they will walk away with the raw winning bid and the auction house will profit only on the BP.

On more common items, this "auction house advantage" is not as significant and there may be other avenues to utilize to reap a larger bottom line return.

Smuggo

It's true if you have a true rarity or a true condition rarity the BP matters not. On all other items the BP is usually factored into the bidding process. So if I want to spend $100 and think it is $100 item, I am only going to bid $85 or close to it and the seller walks away with $85.

diamondman

if it is a nice item let the auction house sell it as ebay is nothing more low ballers and tire kickers, I would bet some auction houses are buying off ebay for their auctions.

I think ebay should make all of their auctions seller free and make the buyer pay all the fees. screw the buyer. JMHO

Boopotts

<< <i>if it is a nice item let the auction house sell it as ebay is nothing more low ballers and tire kickers, I would bet some auction houses are buying off ebay for their auctions.

I think ebay should make all of their auctions seller free and make the buyer pay all the fees. screw the buyer. JMHO >>




Read the 5th post in this thread.



Glad I could help,

Guy

RonBurgundy

No auction house will ever get a dime's worth of consignment bidness from me.

mexpo75

Unless you absolutely need to sell right away, I think you can do ok on ebay. Just start the auction at the price you can live with. The most you pay is $50 plus $3-4 listing fee. If it is a high value item, the %age is low. If it does not sell, no fees.

Mickey71

Mexpo75,
What's the deal with the $50 max? Isn't that only your first few auctions of the month or something like that. I've viewed a few different things about this. A $1500 card is only $50 in fees?

Mickey71

Come on Ron.

Why would you not want to send them a PSA 9 1964 Aaron to auction for you. You would probably get charged 10% plus there would be a buyers premium of 20%. You would walk away with like $600.

"WOW" what a deal.

mexpo75

Mickey, That is correct. If you start your auction with a starting price of $1499 and it sells at that, you pay $50 plus any listing fee.

Mickey71

Mexpo,
The $50 is good anytime? If I listed 100 different items it applies to all of them?

mexpo75

It is 9%, up to $50. So once you are selling items over $550, your cost will not go up.

Mickey71

Thanks.