Posted By:
CyHi,
I'm not sure what the problem is. The only people that I see losing out are the high dollar consigners and Mastro. Before if a consigner had an item worth $100,000 he was able to negotiate his sellers fee down to a lower percentage and, thus, he gained more than someone who had to pay the entire seller's fee. But now if you consign $3,000 or $100,000 you are "paying" the same amount.
Mastro is also (possibly) losing out. Before they were picking up 10% on both ends for a 20% total. Now they are only picking up 17.5%. Mastro is counting on buyers not changing their buying habits which will allow them to make nearly the same amount. Frankly, it is up to you, the buyer to do the math. I am quite sure that most buyers from the board actually account for the buyer's fee when negotiating their bid. At least I hope so. That means if you are willing to spend $1500 on a card, bid accordingly, including the buyer's fees and nothing changes.
To help you out a little, here is a way to place your bid. Say you are willing to spend $1750 on an item. To figure out your actual Mastro bid, take $1750 and divide it by 1.175 (100% + 17.5% buyer's fee). This turns out to be $1489.36. Just place your bid near that number and you won't pay over your $1750, including fees.
Happy bidding!
Cy