[x2drich2000]

Originally Posted by ejharrington

I have a question I have been meaning to ask on this board and relates to the topic of this conversation. If I wanted to consign a high-priced item(s) with one of the big auction houses such as REA, Heritage, etc., do I:

a) pay a consignment fee PLUS the buyer's premium of, say, 20%,
b) a consignment fee ONLY,
c) ONLY the buyer's premium of, say, 20%.

Also, I have seen references to the big auction houses waiving or reducing fees for larger priced items. Are they waiving or reducing the consignment fee, the buyer's premium, and/or both? Also, is there an approximate dollar threshold that the AH's consider when determining whether to waive or reduce the fees?

I would appreciate any feedback that people could provide.

In my opinion an auction house should never adjust the buyers premium in order to get a consignment. If they did adjust the buyer's premium for you, you would have an unfair advantage over other bidders in the auction. Not sure of the legality of it, but seems like creating an unfair bidding platform would at least be unethical.

Auction houses can always adjust your sellers fee for a specific item or consignor. This doesn't create an unfair bidding platform as it shouldn't give you an advantage in bidding on items. It would only put more money in your pocket for the items you consigned. This is one way they can entice a consignor. Most AH's today start with a 0% sellers fee. I know I would have to have a really good reason to consign something with a seller's premium. For high demand, high value items, you can negotiate that fee/item placement/etc and even sometime get a negative sellers fee (a portion of the buyer's premium). As far as when they will waive it or reduce it, that's all up to the individual AH. Some advertise discounts for certain items, some keep it more private. Best bet is to call the AH that you're interested in and see what they will do.

DJ