A comparison of two auction houses

[Peckris 2 2,044]

3 hours ago, TomGoodheart said:

?? Surely, buyer's premium is added to the hammer cost. So it's something that I do have to pay (plus vat) as a buyer. And take into consideration when bidding.
I also bear it in mind when reviewing what level of 'service' I feel I've received, such as speed and cost of dispatch and the level of care taken to safely package my purchases. That the seller might not get as much because everyone is adjusting their bids down by 30% is of course also an issue.

With decent auction houses, e.g. Noonans, the online bid window shows not only the current bid but also what that equals in terms of hammer, so you don't have to do any mental arithmetic while bidding.

[Sword 1,330]

Surely , adding 30% by mental arithmetic isn't very difficult to do. One can also produce a conversion table in advance if necessary.

[Peckris 2 2,044]

32 minutes ago, Sword said:

Surely , adding 30% by mental arithmetic isn't very difficult to do. One can also produce a conversion table in advance if necessary.

No, but in the rapid bidding maelstrom, it's good to see the actual amount and not have to recalculate every split second.

[Paddy 1,543]

Auction One gets worse and worse! Automated emails from them last night - If I do not collect by Friday they will charge £5 per coin per day storage fees! Unbelievable.

My point about the difference in buyers commission was more about the expectation that with such high commission levels they should be geared up for great customer service. The reverse seems to be true.

If anyone is desperate to find out which auction house I am talking about, please PM me.

PS: Have now spoken to them and they assure me they will not be making the above charges. If so, why have their computer send out such annoying emails?

Edited November 30, 2023 by Paddy
Added PS

[Coinery 926]

I don’t understand why, if all you have said about the poor-performing auction house is true, that you can’t just say who they are? Libel only applies if you are publishing lies, surely?

[DaveG38 387]

37 minutes ago, Coinery said:

I don’t understand why, if all you have said about the poor-performing auction house is true, that you can’t just say who they are? Libel only applies if you are publishing lies, surely?

Even more simply, given that the opening post refers to an auction 'the previous Thursday', which auction house was operating on 23rd Nov?

[Paddy 1,543]

I think I'd like to wait until I have my coins safely in my hands before I insult them directly.

 

[Peckris 2 2,044]

On 11/30/2023 at 12:17 PM, Paddy said:

I think I'd like to wait until I have my coins safely in my hands before I insult them directly.

 

makes sense

[Paddy 1,543]

As the coins are now safely in the hands of a trusted friend, I will reveal all.

Firstly, an amelioration of my previous criticism: the staff at Lawrences are extremely helpful and have resolved the confusions caused by their systems cheerfully and without quibble. So the criticism goes to their admin system - AUCTIONET - and whoever in management decided this was a good approach to customer service, and made this an obligatory default for payment.

Specifically:

It insists on sending out separate invoices for each lot sold,
The process for requesting combined invoices is complex and requires manual intervention by AUCTIONET, not the auction house,
The postage costs are set very high, and by default are charged separately for each lot, with minimal discount for combined postage when achieved,
The payment process is buggy - it cannot cope with more than payment per session, so you have to log out and back in for each transaction,
By default it starts sending out abrupt "storage charge" emails after only 1 week and with no consideration as to the size of the lots.

So my advice would be: if you find out your auction house is using AUCTIONET, be prepared for frustration.

[Paddy 1,543]

As a separate comment, I bought at Fieldings auction yesterday, and their service was impeccable. Combined invoice received with 1 hour of the end of the auction. I requested postage online and this was quoted within minutes - £15 plus VAT for lots totalling around £500, which is reasonable. I paid before 5pm yesterday and the coins arrived by Special Delivery today around 14.30. Spot on!

 

[Mr T 169]

On 12/10/2023 at 12:56 AM, Paddy said:

It insists on sending out separate invoices for each lot sold,
The process for requesting combined invoices is complex and requires manual intervention by AUCTIONET, not the auction house,
The postage costs are set very high, and by default are charged separately for each lot, with minimal discount for combined postage when achieved

Sounds like how ebay works these days...

[SilverAge3 50]

On 11/29/2023 at 7:05 AM, TomGoodheart said:

Was the first a large auction house? I'm bemused by the need to register with auctionet afterwards. How difficult is it to have someone take card payments over the phone, particularly as you presumably were able to bid without doing so? Sounds overly complicated!

 

?? Surely, buyer's premium is added to the hammer cost. So it's something that I do have to pay (plus vat) as a buyer. And take into consideration when bidding.
I also bear it in mind when reviewing what level of 'service' I feel I've received, such as speed and cost of dispatch and the level of care taken to safely package my purchases. That the seller might not get as much because everyone is adjusting their bids down by 30% is of course also an issue.

Many auction houses here attach a buyer's premium AND a premium to the seller (and often listing fees per item).

[SilverAge3 50]

On 11/29/2023 at 8:27 AM, Fubar said:

In the UK the auction houses charge the same commission to the vendor and the purchaser "usually". So they make it on both ends of the deal. Some USA auction houses are now advertising the you only pay the hammer price. I haven't noticed this in the UK - yet.

David Lawrence is the only one I know. I've never purchased from them, though.

The lowest BP of houses I reg bid at is Great Collections -- 12.5%, or 10% paid by check/ach, minimum $5.  Most others are 20%, Heritage w/ minimum $29/lot, which is steep for lower end items.

Edited January 13 by SilverAge3

[Paddy 1,543]

Just to clarify, the Lawrences I referred to is nothing to do with David Lawrence as far as I know.

12.5% is remarkably good - I must look them out. B Frank & Son (on Easylive) are also very reasonable, though they have had little of interest to me in the last few sales. I can cope with around 20% as long as the service is good. I object to paying 30% or more, particularly as the service at that level is usually no better and often much worse!

As a tip to the wise, total buyers commission through Easylive usually works out a % or two less than through Saleroom.

 

[SilverAge3 50]

4 hours ago, Paddy said:

Just to clarify, the Lawrences I referred to is nothing to do with David Lawrence as far as I know.

12.5% is remarkably good - I must look them out. B Frank & Son (on Easylive) are also very reasonable, though they have had little of interest to me in the last few sales. I can cope with around 20% as long as the service is good. I object to paying 30% or more, particularly as the service at that level is usually no better and often much worse!

As a tip to the wise, total buyers commission through Easylive usually works out a % or two less than through Saleroom.

 

Great Collections is reasonable, and they also dispatch packages quickly (usually within 2-3 days), and don't gouge on shipping, compared to the much bigger dealers. 

30% is horrible. A freaking third more, and you know they're siphoning off both sides, too.

Edited January 13 by SilverAge3

[Paddy 1,543]

I had a look at Great Collections - I had missed that they are US based, so postage costs are likely to be an issue. Also, they seem to deal only certified and encapsulated stock, which is not my bucket at all!

Thanks for the tip though.

[SilverAge3 50]

28 minutes ago, Paddy said:

I had a look at Great Collections - I had missed that they are US based, so postage costs are likely to be an issue. Also, they seem to deal only certified and encapsulated stock, which is not my bucket at all!

Thanks for the tip though.

Most of the auctions here, outside ebay,  are 99% certified, and those not are usually inferior lots. And looking through ebay, very few people sell good quality raws, and most of those are from outside thd US.  It's just the way things are here, so a good bit of my better pieces are slabbed, even though I'm fine buying raws.