[meteorite-list] Auction Kings meteorite - $2000 Sikhote Alin

[Yinan Wang]

Speaking from experience with many auction houses: most houses stay around the 20% range but the bigger ones charge photo fees of $100-$400 and a buy back fee. So are they a better value than eBay? With the major auction houses, I find that about 40-60% of items I consign will sell. Most will sell at my reserve, but 1 in 4 will go for a crazy high price because of bidding wars. 

So I tend to use eBay for most of my low priced or specimens that are too specialized, while I consign more expensive or pretty items to auction houses. Pretty with a good story sells.

- yinan

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 23, 2012, at 8:13 PM, "Bob Falls" <bcmeteorites at gmail.com> wrote:

> 
> Hi Adam,
> I was watching this show the other night (different episode) and did catch them say at the
> beginning that the auction house takes a 20% sellers premium.  I have never worked with an
> auction house however this does not seem too bad based on the draw this auction seems to have.
> 
> Best Regards,
> Bob Falls
> Colorado Springs, CO
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
> [mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of Adam Hupe
> Sent: Friday, March 23, 2012 9:31 AM
> To: Adam
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Auction Kings meteorite - $2000 Sikhote Alin
> 
> A lot of buyers judge the price of collectable items from eBay.  EBay is 
> not known for fetching top dollar, especially on collectables.  A solid 
> auction house will almost always fetch more than what would be realized 
> on eBay.  The problem with many auction houses is that their commissions are out of line, some
> charging in excess of 40%! Then some fleece the 
> buyers with expensive shipping and handling fees.
> 
> Don't get me wrong, there are a few great auction companies out there, I have used some of
> them.  One problem I encountered is that if the item 
> doesn't sell or the buyer can't pay for the item after bidding on it, 
> then the seller can be out of some serious money including catalog and 
> no-sell fees.  They need to do a better job of vetting their bidders!
> 
> A lot of dealers don't bother with middle men anymore since they can get 
> wholesale prices right off of eBay.  Some specialty shops get most of 
> there product from eBay, mark it up considerably and put it on their 
> shelves. The problem is that a lot the collectable items offered on eBay have no expertise
> behind them and are accidentally or purposely 
> misrepresented.
> 
> There are reputable independent companies that can authenticate and paper 
> items so COAs  are important to me.  I wouldn't purchase a valuable 
> coin, baseball card or any other collectable without first seeing that 
> it has been papered through an independent grading and certificate 
> service.  A properly papered item will almost always bring in the big 
> bucks in an auction house whereas it may not do so well on eBay where 
> some dealers tend to print their own COAs and grade items themselves.
> 
> Kind Regards and Happy Collecting,
> 
> Adam
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